THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

LOS  ANGELES 


THE    LIFE    AND    LETTERS    OF 
THE    GREAT    EARL    OF    CORK 


-  //r     .  //vv/Y    (  >f(ff    (>/ 


THE    LIFE   AND    LETTERS 
OF    THE    GREAT 

EARL    OF    CORK 


BT 

DOROTHEA     TOWNSHEND 

Author  of 
*  LIFE  AND  LETTERS  OF  ENDYMION  PORTER  ' 


'  God's  Providence  is  my  Inheritance.' 


NEW    YORK 

.   P.   T)UTTON  <AND    COMTANT 

1904 


D/l 

.  5- 


PREFACE 

MOST  of  us  have  been  so  long  accustomed  to  think  of  Ireland 
as  '  the  distressful  country,'  the  land  of  '  old,  unhappy  far-off 
things,'  that  we  feel  an  incredulous  surprise  on  hearing  of  a 
man  who  actually  won  name  and  fame  in  Ireland,  and  whose 
own  fortune  prospered  while  he  shed  prosperity  around  him. 

By  a  happy  chance  we  are  able  to  become  intimately 
acquainted  with  this  exceptional  man.  In  the  diary  which 
the  piety  of  his  descendants  has  treasured  at  Lismore,  we  can 
read  how  Richard  Boyle  thanked  God  for  enabling  him  to  do 
good  works  for  the  commonwealth,  and  prayed,  '  God  damn 
Redmond  Fitzgerald  for  turning  pirate ' ;  we  can  see  the 
kindly  old  man  sending  away  an  erring  maidservant  in  his 
own  coach,  though  no  feeling  of  Christian  charity  could  make 
him  either  forgive  or  forget  the  rough  words  of  the  Lord 
Chancellor  of  Ireland,  and  the  injuries  of  the  Earl  of  Strafford. 
We  learn  to  smile  at  his  hot  temper,  to  aspire  with  his 
ambitions,  to  grieve  with  his  sorrows,  till,  when  we  close  the 
last  page  of  the  record  of  his  life,  we  feel  that  we  are  bidding 
farewell  to  a  familiar  and  honoured  friend,  rather  than  to 
a  forgotten  worthy,  who  loved  and  hated  three  hundred 
years  ago. 

In  his  own  day  he  was  called  the  Great  Earl  of  Cork  as 
invariably  as  though  it  were  a  part  of  his  title  ;  now  his  very 
name  is  forgotten,  save  when  some  Munster  antiquary  points 
to  a  squalid  hamlet  or  a  desolate  seashore,  and  tells  that  here 
the  Great  Earl  of  Cork  had  his  linen  factories,  yonder  he 


20G073B 


vi       LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

mined  for  silver,  and  there  stood  his  sheds  for  curing 
pilchards,  in  the  days  when  he  had  made  the  land  to  prosper. 

In  England  he  now  is  only  known  as  the  ancestor  of 
sundry  noble  families  :  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  descends 
from  his  eldest  son,  and  his  third  son  is  the  ancestor  of  the 
Earl  of  Cork  and  Orrery,  and  the  Earl  of  Shannon.  From 
his  eldest  daughter  is  descended  Lord  Barrymore  of  Barry- 
more  ;  from  his  second,  Lord  Digby  of  Geashill  and  of  Sher- 
borne  ;  and  from  the  third,  the  Duke  of  Leinster.  Save  in 
the  pages  of  genealogists,  the  name  of  Richard  Boyle  is 
unknown  to  the  public,  and  the  few  historians  who  mention 
him  misrepresent  his  actions  and  misinterpret  his  designs. 
There  is  but  one  exception  ;  Mr.  Mahaffy,  the  editor  of  the 
Calendar  of  Irish  State  Papers  for  1629-32,  gives  Lord  Cork 
the  credit  for  having  been  both  a  useful  and  an  efficient  public 
servant. 

The  Great  Earl  of  Cork  was  not  born  great;  he  achieved 
greatness  in  the  teeth  of  as  many  difficulties  as  ever  faced  a 
hero  of  romance.  He  was  but  an  obscure  young  lawyer, 
'  without,'  he  says,  '  a  penny  of  certain  income,'  when  the 
great  Elizabeth  opened  his  prison  doors,  and  swore  that  she 
found  him  a  man  fit  to  be  employed  by  herself,  and  that  she 
would  so  employ  him. 

When  once  he  had  the  chance  of  showing  what  he  could 
do,  Boyle's  future  was  assured,  and  he  served  Elizabeth  and 
her  two  successors  so  faithfully,  that  when  Cromwell  sheathed 
his  sword  after  reconquering  Ireland,  he  declared  that  had 
there  but  been  an  Earl  of  Cork  in  every  Irish  Province,  the 
rebellion  he  had  just  crushed  would  never  have  broken  out. 

Boyle's  good  work  in  Ireland  was  still  remembered  in  the 
days  of  the  Restoration.  John  Evelyn  then  wrote  of  him  as 
4  a  person  of  wonderful  sagacity  in  affairs,  and  no  less  probity, 


PREFACE  vii 

by  which  he  compassed  a  great  estate,  and  great  honours  for 
his  posterity.' 

But  although  Boyle  did  compass  a  great  estate  and  great 
honours,  his  ambition  was  not  merely  set  on  winning  an  Earl's 
coronet  ;  he  came  to  Munster  resolved  to  show  what  the 
English  rule  in  Ireland  ought  to  mean,  and  to  convert  a  country 
devastated  by  war  and  famine  into  a  rich  and  contented  por- 
tion of  the  Queen's  dominions.  Under  his  fostering  care, 
comfortable  farmhouses  sprang  up  in  the  deserted  valleys, 
lonely  sea-bays  were  changed  into  harbours  crowded  with 
fishing-smacks  and  merchantmen,  among  the  barren  moun- 
tains were  seen  the  glow  of  his  iron  forges,  his  water-mills  and 
salmon  wears  were  found  on  every  stream.  In  the  eastern 
part  of  the  Province  he  rebuilt  the  towns  that  had  been 
ruined  in  the  Desmond  wars,  and  among  the  impassable 
western  forests  he  founded  the  frontier  towns  of  Bandon, 
Clonakilty,  Enniskeane,  and  Castletown,  to  hold  the  settled 
country  secure  against  the  raids  of  the  wild  tribes  of  West 
Carberry  and  Kerry. 

The  hard  usage  which  Boyle  has  received  at  the  hands  of 
modern  historians  is  owing  to  their  having  merely  reproduced 
the  accusations  brought  against  him  by  certain  of  his  enemies, 
without  troubling  to  inquire  on  what  grounds  these  accusations 
were  founded.  Boyle  was  too  strongly  marked  a  character  to 
go  through  life  without  making  plenty  of  enemies  ;  unfortun- 
ately one  of  the  chief  of  these  was  the  Earl  of  Strafford,  and 
whatever  Strafford  said  of  Boyle  was  believed  and  repeated 
by  Archbishop  Laud.  Considering  that  Strafford,  when  he 
arrived  in  Ireland  as  Lord  Deputy,  made  no  secret  of  his 
intentions  of  filling  the  King's  purse  from  the  coffers  of  the 
Munster  millionaire,  the  charges  which  he  brought  against  the 
millionaire  as  a  means  of  extorting  money  should  be  estimated 


viii    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 

at  their  real  value.  But  neither  Strafford  nor  Laud  could 
really  forgive  Boyle  for  being  a  survival  from  c  the  spacious 
days  of  Great  Elizabeth.'  The  churchmanship  he  had  learned 
in  the  sixteenth  century  pleased  the  Archbishop  as  little  as  the 
Tudor  system  of  governing  Ireland  satisfied  Strafford. 

The  only  people  who  had  a  real  ground  of  complaint 
against  Boyle  were  the  Irish  Roman  Catholics,  for  Boyle  as  a 
statesman  was  not  in  advance  of  his  age,  and  religious  tolera- 
tion had  not  then  been  invented.  Even  with  all  our  modern 
enlightenment,  our  rulers  find  it  a  difficult  matter  to  deal 
wisely  with  the  customs  and  creeds  of  primitive  subject  races, 
so  we  can  hardly  blame  an  Elizabethan  ruler  of  Ireland  for 
having  little  patience  with  Irish  habits,  and  little  reverence  for 
Irish  holy  places,  and  honestly  believing  he  was  doing  his  best 
for  his  new  subjects  by  forcing  English  civilisation,  language, 
and  religion  on  a  nation  that  abhorred  all  three. 

But  Boyle's  religious  intolerance  was  not  by  any  means  so 
far-reaching  as  has  often  been  imagined.  It  was  only  with  the 
Romanist  priests,  and  members  of  religious  orders,  that  he  had 
any  quarrel,  and  the  severity  with  which  he  treated  them  was 
rather  political  than  religious,  for  priests  and  friars  were  always 
believed  to  be  emissaries  from  the  Queen's  enemies  in  Spain  or 
France.  With  the  Roman  Catholic  gentry  Boyle  was  always 
on  the  best  of  terms.  They  feasted  in  his  house,  while  they 
jested  on  the  duty  of  observing  fast-days ;  they  even  carried 
practical  jokes  on  their  host  so  far  as  to  inveigle  him  into 
witnessing  a  popish  wedding ;  in  fact,  as  true  Irishmen,  they 
found  in  their  difference  of  religious  opinions  only  a  fresh 
reason  for  making  merry. 

But  however  much  we  may  regret  the  severity  of  Boyle's 
handling  of  the  Romanist  priests,  there  can  be  no  doubt  of 
the  wisdom  as  well  as  kindliness  of  his  government  of  the 


PREFACE  ix 

English  whom  he  settled  in  Munster.  It  has  been  said  that 
the  Elizabethan  poor  law  introduced  the  principle  of  socialism 
into  England.  There  was  something  of  the  same  feeling 
always  present  in  Boyle's  mind.  He  expected  his  English 
tenants  to  be  as  keen  as  he  was  himself  for  the  service  of  the 
commonwealth;  the  tradespeople  were  to  be  always  on  the 
look-out  for  new  manufactures,  the  farmers  for  improved 
breeds  of  cattle,  the  trained  bands  to  be  drilled  in  readiness 
to  defend  the  settlements.  In  return  he,  their  ruler,  provided 
them  with  grammar-schools  for  the  children,  with  apprentice- 
ships for  the  growing  boys  and  girls,  and  with  almshouses  for 
the  sick  and  old.  They  should  all  do  their  duty  to  the  State 
with  quiet  minds,  untroubled  by  anxiety  for  the  future  of 
their  children  or  fears  for  their  own  old  age. 

The  position  of  the  Earl  of  Cork  in  Munster  was  indeed 
unique.  English  intruder  though  he  was,  he  exercised  a 
patriarchal  jurisdiction  as  complete  as  that  of  a  Celtic  chieftain ; 
his  neighbours  of  both  creeds  consulted  him  as  an  oracle,  and 
flew  with  pride  on  his  errands  ;  their  daughters  refused  to 
marry  till  assured  of  the  great  Earl's  approbation  ;  his  tenants 
carried  their  troubles  to  him  with  complete  confidence  in  his 
paternal  interest ;  the  clergy  obeyed  him  as  they  would  have 
done  a  bishop.  Wealthy,  good  natured,  and  domineering,  he 
was  the  moving  spring  of  all  that  was  said  and  done  in 
Munster  for  well-nigh  fifty  years. 

There  appears,  however,  to  be  an  undefined  suspicion  in 
some  minds  that  it  was  impossible  that  Cork  could  have 
honestly  come  by  such  enormous  wealth.  These  critics  forget 
that  a  new  country  gives  the  best  chance  to  new  men,  and 
fortunes  may  there  be  made  by  energy  and  industry  without 
needing  the  assistance  of  dishonesty.  Boyle  was  so  fortunate 
as  to  come  to  Ireland  when  it  was  practically  a  new  country ; 


x       LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

he  was  one  of  the  earliest  to  develop  its  natural  resources,  and 
he  reaped  the  reward  of  his  industry  and  acuteness.  His 
undertakings  indeed  prospered  so  amazingly,  and  his  rise  was 
so  rapid,  that  he  himself  never  considered  it  due  to  his  own 
efforts,  but  devoutly  ascribed  his  good  fortune  to  Divine 
benevolence,  and  chose  as  his  motto  *  God's  providence  is  mine 
inheritance.'  But  he  was  never  troubled  by  any  doubts  of 
the  honesty  of  the  ways  his  wealth  was  come  by.  When  in 
his  will  he  gave  the  list  of  his  lands,  he  set  down  after  each 
piece  of  property  the  price  he  had  paid  for  it,  or  the  amount 
for  which  it  had  been  mortgaged  to  him,  and  ends  :  '  Every 
half-year  God  by  his  great  mercy  and  bounty  hath  and  doth 
enable  me,  either  by  purchase,  mortgage,  or  leases,  to  increase 
my  livelihood.' 

Land  purchase  in  a  new  and  sparsely  settled  country  was 
naturally  something  of  a  speculation,  and  Boyle  was  always 
shrewd  enough  to  look  out  for  good  bargains.  He  was  a 
lawyer,  and  the  letter  of  the  law  was  sacred  to  him  ;  but  so 
long  as  the  letter  of  the  law  was  on  his  side,  he  never 
hesitated  nor  scrupled,  and  held  on  to  what  he  believed  to  be 
his  rights  with  the  tenacity  of  a  bulldog. 

Yet,  once  the  battle  was  won,  he  constantly  discovered, 
with  English  inconsistency,  that  he  was  very  sorry  for  his 
defeated  antagonists,  and,  in  his  own  words,  *  like  a  kind  fool ' 
tossed  them  a  fair  share  of  the  prize  he  had  clutched  at  so 
savagely  but  a  little  time  before. 

The  chief  source  of  information  about  the  Earl  of  Cork, 
his  life  and  surroundings,  is  Dr.  Grosart's  selection  from  the 
Lismore  Papers,  in  ten  volumes,  privately  printed  by  per- 
mission of  the  Duke  of  Devonshire  from  manuscripts 
preserved  at  Lismore  Castle. 

The  first  five  of  these  volumes  contain  the  Earl  of  Cork's 


PREFACE  xi 

diary  from  the  year  1 6 1 1  to  his  death.  The  other  volumes, 
which  constitute  the  second  series,  contain  letters  to  the  Earl 
from  his  family  and  friends,  with,  in  many  cases,  drafts  of 
his  replies. 

Lord  Cork  also  wrote  a  short  autobiography  of  which  he 
was  evidently  proud,  as  manuscript  copies  of  it  appear  to 
have  been  circulated  among  his  friends,  and  are  found  in  many 
collections,  under  the  name  of  '  The  Earl  of  Cork's  True 
Remembrances.'  It  carries  his  history  up  to  the  year  1632. 

The  autobiographies  of  his  children,  Robert  Boyle,  and 
Mary,  Countess  of  Warwick,  the  Life  of  Lord  Orrery,  by 
Morrice,  and  the  Lives  of  the  Boyles,  by  Budgell  ;  the  Carew 
MSS.,  the  Betham  MSS.,  the  Domestic  State  Papers  and  State 
Papers  for  Ireland,  Stafford's  Letters,  the  Verney  Memoirs,  the 
contemporary  Pacata  Hibernia,  and  the  eighteenth-century 
History  of  the  County  and  City  of  Cork,  by  Dr.  Charles  Smith 
(edit.  1893),  with  Caulfield's  Council  Book  of  Toughal,  and 
Dr.  Hayman's  Handbook,  all  help  to  fill  any  gaps  left  in  the 
diary,  and  offer  such  a  wealth  of  material  to  the  student  that 
the  task  of  selection  is  well-nigh  hopeless. 

A  sketch  of  the  Great  Earl's  life  and  a  series  of  beautiful 
portraits  of  the  Boyle  family  will  be  found  in  the  Orrery 
Papers,  lately  brought  out  by  the  Countess  of  Cork  and 
Orrery.  Her  volumes  carry  the  history  of  the  first  Earl's 
descendants  to  the  end  of  the  eighteenth  century. 

The  spelling  of  the  extracts  from  contemporary  records  in 
the  following  pages  has,  in  most  cases,  been  modernised.  The 
Earl  himself  thought  spelling  a  matter  of  so  little  importance 
that  he  would  spell  the  same  word  in  half  a  dozen  different 
ways  on  a  single  page  of  his  diary  ;  it  therefore  seems  most 
convenient  to  present  his  writings  in  a  form  that  may  let  them 
be  easily  read  by  the  general  public.  Antiquarians  have  the 


xii      LIFE  OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

most  important  of  the  originals  ready  to  their  hand  in 
Dr.  Grosart's  folios. 

I  beg  to  return  my  best  thanks  to  the  Duke  of  Devonshire 
for  his  kindness  in  permitting  me  to  have  portraits  at  Lismore 
and  Hardwick  photographed ;  to  Lord  Frederick  Fitzgerald 
for  his  leave  to  copy  the  portrait  of  Lord  Kildare  in  possession 
of  the  Duke  of  Leinster  at  Carton  ;  to  Lord  Barrymore  for 
permission  to  photograph  the  portrait  of  Lady  Broghill  at 
Fota  ;  and  to  Lady  Cork  for  allowing  me  to  take  the  portraits 
of  the  first  Countess  of  Cork  and  the. first  Earl  of  Orrery 
from  her  Orrery  Papers.  I  have  also  to  thank  Mr.  James 
Penrose  for  his  help  in  arranging  for  copying  the  Lismore 
pictures. 

I  wish  also  to  express  my  sincere  gratitude  to  the  Earl  of 
Shannon  for  the  loan  of  books,  and  to  Dr.  Copinger  for  the 
loan  of  manuscript  copies  of  the  Earl  of  Cork's  will  and  of 
his  septpartite  conveyance  of  property.  Among  many  generous 
helpers  in  my  work  I  have  especially  to  thank  the  Rev.  E. 
Barry,  P.P.,  Mr.  James  Coleman,  Mr.  Denham  Franklin, 
and  Mr.  C.  M.  Tennison  for  much  useful  archaeological  and 
genealogical  information. 

I  have  also  to  thank  Mr.  J.  H.  Ingram  for  the  information, 
given  while  these  sheets  are  passing  through  the  press,  that 
Richard  Boyle  was  educated  at  the  King's  School,  Canterbury, 
entering  it  in  1580.  His  brother  John  had  entered  it  in 
1578. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PREFACE,  .  .  ...  .  .  .  v 

I.  FORTUNE  MY  FOE,      .  .  .  .  .  i 

ii.  TACATA  HIBERNIA;  .         .        .         .         .  is 

III.  A  NEW  MUNSTER,        .  ' 36 

IV.  A  FAMILY  PARTY, 47 

V.  A  MUNSTER  RULER, 70 

VI.  AT  THE  COURT  OF  THE  BRITISH  SOLOMON,  .  -.          84 

VII.  IN  A  SEAPORT  TOWN,            .            '.            .             .  .           99 

VIII.  A  MUNSTER  MANSION, 126 

IX.  MARRIAGES  OF  CONVENIENCE,      .            .            .  .143 

X.  VANITY  FAIR,    .                         .            .             .            .  .160 

XI.  THE  LORD  JUSTICE,     .                        .            .            .  177 

XII.  THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY,           .            .            .  '.         195 

XIII.  THE  LORD  JUSTICE'S  SONS-IN-LAW,                      .  .        215 

XIV.  THE  REIGN  OF  THOROUGH,             .            .            .  .236 
XV.  MY  LORD  DUNGARVAN,                    .            .  .248 

XVI.  THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL,      .  .        262 

XVII.  A  HAVEN  OF  REFUGE,  .  .  .  .288 

xiii 


xiv      LIFE  OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

PAGE 

XVIII.  ETON  GENTLEMEN,     ...  .306 

XIX.  SAVOY  WEDDINGS,       ....  -329 

XX.  THE  OPENING  OF  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT,   .  .351 

XXI.  GATHERING  CLOUDS,  ...  .369 

XXII.  THE  EARL'S  SONS, 388 

XXIII.  AT  BAY, 412 

XXIV.  RESTORATION, 443 

APPENDICES 

I.  THE  BOYLE  ESTATES  IN  MUNSTER,         .  .  .455 

II.  SEPTPARTITE  INDENTURE, 468 

III.  WILL  OF  THE  EARL  OF  CORK,       .  .  .  .470 

INDEX, 509 


LIST    OF    ILLUSTRATIONS 


RICHARD  BOYLE,  FIRST  EARL  OF  CORK.      (FROM  THE  PORTRAIT  IN 

POSSESSION    OF   THE    DUKE    OF    DEVONSHIRE    AT    HARDWICK), — Frontispiece 

AT  PAGE 

KATHERINE  FENTON,  SECOND  WIFE  OF  THE  FIRST  EARL 
OF  CORK.  (FROM  THE  PORTRAIT  OWNED  BY  THE  EARL  OF 
CORK  AND  ORRERY  AT  MARSTON  BIGGOTT),  •  •  •  •  33 

TOMB  ERECTED  BY  THE  EARL  OF  CORK  IN  ST.  PATRICK'S 

CATHEDRAL,   DUBLIN, 209 

(The  upper  figure  is  Dean  Weston,  Chancellor  of  Ireland.  Below 
him  kneel  Sir  Geoffrey  and  Lady  Fenton.  Next  are  recumbent  figures 
of  the  Earl  and  Countess  of  Cork,  with  their  four  elder  sons  kneeling. 
At  the  base  kneel  six  of  their  daughters,  with  a  small  effigy  of  the 
youngest  son,  Robert,  between  them.) 

Photograph  by  W.  Lawrence  and  Son,  Dublin. 
GEORGE,  SIXTEENTH  EARL  OF  KILDARE.    (FROM  THE  PORTRAIT 

OWNED    BY   THE    DUKE    OF    LEINSTER   AT   CARTON),  .  :  .         215 

Photograph  by  W.  Lawrence  and  Son,  Dublin. 
ROGER,  BARON  BROGHILL,  AFTERWARDS  EARL  OF  ORRERY. 

(FROM    THE    PORTRAIT    AT    MARSTON    BlGGOTT),      .  .  .  .232 

RICHARD,  VISCOUNT  DUNGARVAN,  AFTERWARDS  EARL  OF 
CORK  AND  BURLINGTON.  (FROM  THE  VANDYKE  PORTRAIT 

OWNED    BY   THE   DUKE   OF   DEVONSHIRE    AT   LlSMORE),    .  .  .         248 

Photograph  by  Guy,  Cork. 


xvi     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

AT  PAGE 

ELIZABETH,  VISCOUNTESS  DUNGARVAN,  AFTERWARDS 
COUNTESS  OF  CORK  AND  BURLINGTON,  DAUGHTER 
AND  CO-HEIR  OF  HENRY  CLIFFORD,  EARL  OF  CUMBERLAND. 
(FROM  THE  VANDYKE  PORTRAIT  AT  LISMORE),  ....  256 

Photograph  by  Guy,  Cork. 

ROBERT  BOYLE.     (FROM  THE  VANDYKE  PORTRAIT  AT  LISMORE),      .       306 
Photograph  by  Guy,  Cork. 

MARGARET,  LADY  BROGHILL,  DAUGHTER  OF  THEOPHILUS 
HOWARD,  EARL  OF  SUFFOLK.  (FROM  THE  LELY  PORTRAIT  OWNED 
BY  LORD  BARRYMORE  AT  FOTA), 349 

Photograph  by  Guy,  Cork. 
TOMB  OF  THE  FIRST  EARL  OF  CORK,  AT  YOUGHAL,  WITH 

RECUMBENT    FIGURE    OF    HIMSELF,    HIS    FIRST    AND    SECOND    WIVES 
KNEELING    AT    HEAD    AND    FOOT  ;     ALSO     RECUMBENT    FIGURE    OF 

LADY  FENTON, 44z 


MAP, 507 


CHAPTER     I 

FORTUNE    MY    FOE 
1588—1599 

*  Fortune  my  foe,  why  dost  thou  frown  on  me, 
And  will  thy  favours  never  greater  be  ? 
Wilt  thou,  I  say,  for  ever  breed  me  pain, 
And  wilt  thou  not  restore  my  joys  again  ? ' 

Old  Song  :   Bag  ford  Collects, 

IT  was  midsummer  eve  in  the  year  1588.  On  the  Devon  coasts 
anxious  eyes  were  straining  to  see  the  sails  of  the  Spanish 
Armada,  black  against  the  sunset  ;  and  away  in  Ireland  the 
Lord  Deputy  was  watching  with  even  keener  anxiety,  lest  any 
of  the  Irish  chieftains  whom  he  had  threatened  or  bribed  into 
submission  should  raise  the  flag  of  rebellion  and  welcome  the 
Spanish  invaders  into  the  country. 

On  that  ominous  midsummer  eve,  a  young  Englishman 
landed  in  Dublin,  coming,  as  he  said,  '  to  seek  his  fortune  in 
a  foreign  land.'  Foreign  indeed  were  the  sights  that  met  eyes 
used  only  to  the  peaceful  hop-gardens  of  Kent  and  the  vener- 
able courts  of  Cambridge.  The  walls  of  Dublin  were  manned, 
as  in  time  of  war,  with  sentries  watching  lest  Irish  freebooters 
should  carry  their  raids  up  to  the  very  gates  of  the  capital,  and 
out  through  the  gates  were  marching  the  stiff  ranks  of  English 
pikemen,  despatched  to  struggle  through  bogs  and  woodlands 
in  chase  of  the  agile  Irish  kerns  who  scorned  their  clumsy 
antagonists.  High  before  the  stranger  as  he  landed  towered 


2        LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

the  purple  mountains  that  girdle  Dublin  Bay,  whose  glens  and 
moorlands  were  battle-grounds  whence  sometimes  the  English 
soldiers  brought  back  Irish  heads  to  blacken  on  the  walls  of 
Dublin  Castle,  and  whence  sometimes  they  never  returned  at 
all,  swallowed  up  in  the  labyrinth  of  greenwood  that  kept  the 
secret  of  their  fate  too  well. 

Even  within  the  protecting  walls  of  Dublin,  the  crowd 
must  have  struck  the  newcomer  as  strangely  foreign  :  the  in- 
evitable old  Irish  beggar-women,  minstrels,  and  jesters  loiter- 
ing wrapped  in  their  great  mantles,  with  their  tangled  hair 
half  hiding  their  keen  Celtic  faces — minstrels  or  spies,  who 
knows  which  they  were,  probably  both,  and  thieves  and  mur- 
derers to  boot,  for  they  carried  long  skeens  hidden  under 
those  convenient  cloaks.  A  stranger  had  need  to  walk  warily 
in  Dublin  in  the  days  of  Queen  Bess. 

But  these  loitering  rogues  were  not  the  only  Irishmen  he 
saw  as  he  passed  along  the  narrow  streets  ;  many  gallant 
figures  he  would  meet,  wearing  English  ruffs  and  jaunty  little 
English  cloaks,  nobles  and  gentlemen  who  had  been  educated 
in  England,  and  seemed  Englishmen  but  for  a  touch  of  loftier 
pride  and  a  gleam  of  wilder  wit  than  were  to  be  met  with  even 
in  Elizabeth's  court :  poor  and  proud,  many  of  them  come  to 
Dublin  to  see  if  they  could  raise  money  on  the  lands  of  their 
forefathers,  or  bribe  some  government  official  to  wink  at  their 
annexing  the  lands  of  their  neighbours. 

And  these  government  officials,  what  a  picturesque  com- 
pany they  made,  headed  by  burly,  overbearing  Lord 
Deputy  Perrot,  who  men  whispered  had  too  much  the 
disposition  and  the  face  of  King  Harry  the  Eighth  to  have 
come  by  the  likeness  by  chance.  Then  there  was  the  Secretary 
of  State,  Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton,  who  had  seen  the  massacre  of 
the  Spaniards  at  Smerwick  Bay,  and  who  nowadays  lightened 


FORTUNE   MY   FOE  3 

his  political  labours  by  translating  Italian  novels  and  discussing 
couplets  with  Ludovic  Bryskett,  the  friend  and  tutor  of  Philip 
Sidney.  And  to  Bryskett's  cottage,  just  outside  the  city  walls, 
came  often  Edmund  Spenser,  riding  up  from  his  Munster 
hermitage  to  compare  sonnets  with  his  host  and  talk  over  the 
plan  of  the  Faery  ^ueen  with  Sir  Geoffrey,  and  perhaps  to  tell 
tales  of  his  wild  Irish  neighbours  to  the  veteran  St.  Leger,  who 
lived  hard  by. 

The  keen  eye  of  the  young  newcomer,  Richard  Boyle, 
must  have  watched  the  shifting  pageant  of  Dublin  life  with 
some  anxiety,  for  his  purse  held  but  twenty-seven  pounds, 
three  shillings,  and  at  home  in  England  were  two  sisters  who 
depended  on  him ;  so  it  behoved  him  to  catch  Dame  Fortune 
by  the  forelock,  if  he  and  they  were  not  to  starve  together. 

Poor  though  he  might  be,  his  father,  Roger  Boyle,  came  of 
a  good  old  family,  settled  in  Herefordshire  since  the  days  of 
the  Conqueror,  and  most  of  the  west  country  squires  called 
them  cousin.1  But  Roger  Boyle  had  been  a  younger  son,  and 
bound  to  earn  his  living,  so  he  had  travelled  eastward  and 
settled  at  Preston  near  Faversham  in  Kent,  and  there  he  had 
found  a  bride,  Joan,  daughter  of  Robert  Naylor  of  Canter- 
bury, and  two  sons  and  two  daughters  were  born  to  them. 
The  second  son,  Richard,  afterwards  to  be  so  famous,  was  born 
in  Canterbury  the  3rd  of  October  1566.  He  was  but  a  child 
of  ten  when  Roger  Boyle  died,  leaving  his  widow  little  in  the 
world  but  her  four  children,  and  yet  a  third  son  to  be  born  soon 
after  the  father  had  been  laid  in  his  grave  in  Preston  church.2 

In  spite  of  her  small  means,  the  widowed  Mrs.  Boyle 
managed  to  send  her  eldest  son,  John,  to  Benn't,  or  Corpus 

1  Humphry  de  Binvile  of  Pixeley,  Ledbury  ;  Domesday  Book  $  Grosart,  Lismore 
Papers,  znd  series,  vol.  v. ;  Robinson,  Mansions  of  Herefordshire,  p.  94. 

2  Hugh,  died  in  the  wars  in  foreign  parts  unmarried. 


4       LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Christ!  College,  Cambridge;  and  in  1583  when  her  second 
boy  Richard  was  seventeen  and  had  learned  all  the  grammar 
a  neighbouring  clergyman  could  teach  him,  he  succeeded  in 
gaining  a  scholarship  at  the  same  college. 

From  Cambridge  the  elder  Boyle  took  holy  orders,  and 
Richard  was  admitted  to  the  Middle  Temple,  where  the  Chief 
Baron  of  the  Exchequer,  Sir  Richard  Manwood,  made  him  his 
clerk. 

But  Richard  soon  found  that  neither  wealth  nor  fame  were 
to  be  gained  by  drudging  at  a  copying  desk,  and  when  his 
mother's  death  loosed  the  only  tie  that  held  him  to  England, 
he  determined  in  his  own  words  '  to  travel  into  foreign 
kingdoms  and  to  gain  learning,  knowledge,  and  experience, 
abroad  in  the  world.' 

Never  has  a  new  country  been  opened  but  young  English- 
men have  been  the  first  to  explore  its  resources.  A  hundred 
years  ago  they  sailed  to  the  East  Indies  to  shake  the  Pagoda 
tree  ;  to-day  they  rush  to  Klondyke  or  Rhodesia  ;  in  the 
seventeenth  century  they  started  for  Ireland. 

For  the  Ireland  in  which  Boyle  had  landed  was  practically 
a  new  country,  and  he  knew  that  there  was  plenty  of  work 
awaiting  a  pushing  young  lawyer.  The  English  settlers  there 
were  busy  suing  out  their  Government  grants  of  land  or 
arranging  purchases  from  the  original  owners,  and  when  the 
strong  hand  of  the  Government  prevented  the  native  chieftains 
from  deciding  their  differences  by  hard  knocks,  they  were 
ready  enough  to  use  the  English  law  to  ruin  each  other. 

A  part  of  the  island  was  already  occupied  by  a  civilised 
population  who  lived  in  good  houses  and  tilled  the  soil  and 
engaged  to  some  extent  in  trade  and  manufactures,  and  in 
these  counties  English  settlers,  and  Irish  nobles  who  had  been 
educated  in  England,  owned  stately  castles,  and  lived  much 


FORTUNE   MY   FOE  5 

the  same  life  as  ordinary  English  gentlemen.  But  these 
enclosed  lands  embraced  but  a  small  portion  of  Ireland  ;  the 
best  part  of  the  country  was  still  covered  with  primaeval 
forests,  rich  in  furred  beasts  and  wild  honey  and  valuable 
timber,  or  stretched  away  in  unenclosed  plains  of  the  greenest 
pastures  in  the  world,  where  the  cattle  of  a  few  half-naked 
herdsmen  ranged  at  liberty.  The  Anglicised  Irish  were  few  ; 
the  greater  number  of  the  small  chieftains  had  little  more 
breeding  than  the  wild  tribesmen  who  boasted  to  be  of  their 
kin  and  to  share  their  rights  over  the  lands  of  the  clan. 
Outside  civilisation  had  just  penetrated  so  far  as  to  show  these 
chieftains,  that  when  they  could  not  snatch  wealth  by  the 
strong  hand,  or  accept  it  as  a  bribe,  they  had  an  excellent 
opportunity  of  making  money  by  selling  or  mortgaging  the 
lands  which  too  often  were  not  theirs  at  all,  but  the  property 
of  the  tribe  at  large.  Besides  these  lands  offered  for  sale,  the 
estates  forfeited  during  the  frequent  rebellions  could  be  pur- 
chased on  easy  terms  from  the  Government,  and  Richard 
Boyle  guessed  that  he  might  become  a  landed  squire  like  his 
forefathers  without  needing  a  very  long  purse  to  help  him. 

The  new  country,  it  is  true,  could  not  rival  the  Kentish 
hop-gardens,  or  the  Herefordshire  orchards,  but  it  boasted 
rivers  rich  in  salmon  and  in  pearls,  seas  teeming  with  fish,  and 
mountains  stored  with  gold  and  silver,  copper  and  lead  ;  not, 
indeed,  to  be  had  for  the  picking  up,  but  only  waiting  for  the 
right  man  to  come  and  develop  them. 

But  although  it  might  be  a  land  of  plenty,  Ireland  was 
certainly  not  one  of  peace.  The  English  settlers  had  thought 
it  quite  a  simple  matter  to  decide  the  fate  of  those  whose 
forefathers  had  owned  the  land :  if  they  were  wise,  and 
submissive,  the  new  possessors  were  ready  to  have  them  well 
dressed  in  English  clothes  and  taught  the  English  religion  and 


6        LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

made  decent  and  comfortable  in  English  fashion  ;  if  they 
were  so  unaccountable  as  not  to  appreciate  such  opportunities 
for  improvement  they  must  go,  vanishing  as  many  another 
noble  race  has  done  before  the  march  of  an  alien  civilisation. 

But  the  native  population  were  neither  disposed  to  alter 
nor  to  vanish,  and  the  whole  country,  when  Boyle  entered  it, 
was  simmering  with  rebellion.  No  sooner  was  an  explosion 
smothered  on  one  hand  than  it  broke  out  on  another.  The 
only  distinctly  visible  leader  was  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  but  any 
day  any  chieftain  might  be  found  at  the  head  of  an  Irish 
rising.  English  and  Irish  soldiers  alike  were  half  naked  and 
half  starved  ;  and  while  the  wild  Irish  flayed  and  mutilated 
their  captives,  the  English  racked  their  prisoners  in  Dublin 
Castle  or  hung  them  alive  in  chains.  There  was,  it  seems,  but 
one  voice  that  ventured  to  protest  that  massacres  were  not 
diplomacy.  Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton  told  the  Queen  and  Council 
plainly  that  affairs  in  Ireland  could  not  be  '  carried  on  in  just 
rule  and  frame '  if  there  were  '  too  great  an  antipathy  and 
dissimilitude  of  humour  between  a  people  and  their  governor.'1 
It  is  well  to  remember  the  name  of  the  one  humane  statesman 
in  Ireland,  for  Sir  Geoffrey  was  destined  in  after  times  to  be 
Richard  Boyle's  most  beloved  and  trusted  counsellor. 

Into  this  new  country  came  Richard  Boyle,  a  good-looking 
young  fellow  of  twenty-two,  something  of  a  fop  in  his  dress, 
after  the  fashion  of  young  men  of  his  time  :  wearing  a  new 
suit  of  Milan  fustian,  laced  and  slashed  with  taffety,  a  rapier 
and  dagger  by  his  side,  on  his  wrist  a  gold  bracelet  that  was 
worth  ten  pounds,  and  two  rings  on  his  fingers ;  one,  a 
diamond  given  him  by  his  mother  on  her  deathbed,  which  he 
called  his  lucky  ring,  and  afterwards  bequeathed  as  an  heir- 
loom in  his  family  ;  the  other  a  great  gold  ring  given  him  as  a 

1  Bagwell,  Ireland  under  the  Tudors,  iii.  97,  158. 


FORTUNE   MY   FOE  7 

parting  present  by  his  godfather,  Richard  Boyle  of  Maisemore, 
emblazoned  with  the  Boyle  arms  in  gules  and  argent  on  a 
crystal.  Further  wealth  he  had  none  but  the  money  in  his 
purse,  and,  he  tells  us,  '  competent  linen  and  necessaries,  two 
cloaks,  a  doublet  cut  upon  taffety,  and  a  pair  of  black  velvet 
breeches.' l  To  quote  his  own  v/ords  again,  '  I  was  but  a 
younger  son  and  a  private  gentleman  '  when  '  it  pleased  the 
Almighty  by  His  Divine  providence  to  take  me,  as  I  may  say 
justly,  by  the  hand,  and  lead  me  into  Ireland.' 

Probably  before  settling  down  to  look  for  work  in  Dublin, 
the  young  man  made  an  expedition  into  County  Meath,  for 
there,  in  a  splendid  mansion  that  in  old  days  had  been  the 
Abbey  of  Mellifont,  lived  Sir  Edward  Moore,  a  gallant 
Kentish  gentleman  who  had  been  granted  Irish  estates  in 
reward  for  his  good  services,  and  whose  advice  had  first 
turned  Richard  Boyle's  thoughts  to  Ireland.  There  Boyle 
made  acquaintance  with  many  fine  folks  and  struck  up  a 
special  friendship  with  young  Lady  Moore,  Sir  Edward's 
daughter-in-law. 

On  his  return  to  Dublin  he  found  yet  another  Kentish 
fellow-countryman,  Anthony  St.  Leger,  descended  from  a 
former  Lord  Deputy  St.  Leger,  at  whose  house  he  met  Sir 
Anthony's  kinsman,  the  gallant  Warham  St.  Leger,  after- 
wards Lord  President  of  Munster  ;  so  even  at  his  first  landing 
Boyle  was  not  a  complete  stranger  in  a  new  country. 

But  at  first  he  had  to  make  his  living  as  best  he  could, 
taking  odd  jobs  of  copying  out  memorials,  or  drawing  up 
cases  for  more  fortunate  lawyers  ;  but  before  long,  his  talent 
and  industry  made  their  mark,  and  he  gained  the  post  of 
Deputy  to  the  Excheator  General  of  Ireland,  John  Crofton. 

It  was  indeed   a  prize  for  the  young  man  to  obtain  a 

1  True  Remembrances. 


8       LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

settled  position  as  a  Government  official,  but  the  work  Boyle 
had  to  do  was  not  of  a  sort  to  increase  his  popularity. 

The  office  of  the  Excheator  was  to  investigate  and  enforce 
the  feudal  claims  of  the  Crown  on  forfeited  lands,  lapsed 
titles,  and  wardships,  and  it  was  natural  that  those  who  lost 
by  these  demands  should  be  ready  to  accuse  the  Excheator's 
clerk  of  tyranny  and  exaction,  and  hint  that  those  who  fared 
better  did  so  by  having  bribed  Mr.  Boyle  to  stand  their 
friend.  They  also  quickly  suggested  that  Boyle  could  not 
have  risen  in  the  world  so  fast  simply  from  his  own  merits, 
and  that  he  must  have  brought  forged  letters  to  introduce 
him  to  Dublin  patrons.  Boyle's  family  friendship  with  Sir 
Edward  Moore  was  a  very  simple  answer  to  this  accusation, 
and  he  was  so  little  disturbed  by  the  tattle  of  Dublin  gossips, 
that  he  decided  to  make  his  home  in  Ireland,  and  sent  over  for 
his  sisters  to  come  and  join  him.  The  young  ladies,  however, 
did  not  remain  long  in  Dublin  ;  whether  by  the  good  services 
of  St.  Leger  and  Spenser,  or  by  the  power  of  their  own 
charms,  they  soon  found  husbands,  gentlemen  of  good  pro- 
perty in  the  rich  south-east  corner  of  Ireland,  Mary  marry- 
ing Richard  Smyth  or  Smith  of  Ballynetra,  and  Elizabeth, 
Pierce  Power  of  Lisfinnon  Castle. 

Not  far  from  the  married  homes  of  the  Boyle  girls  lay  the 
lands  that  had  been  granted  to  Edmund  Spenser,  and  we 
cannot  doubt  that  it  was  at  Ballynetra  or  at  Lisfinnon  that  the 
poet  first  saw  a  golden-haired  Elizabeth  Boyle  who  came  over 
from  her  home  in  Hereford  to  visit  her  cousins.  There  he 
wooed  her  with  sonnets,  and  on  the  sands  of  Youghal  he 
wrote  her  name,  and  at  last,  in  the  old  cathedral  of  Cork, 
she  became  his  wife,  and  he  dedicated  to  her  that  glorious 
Epithalamium  to  which  we  cannot  but  still  fancy  '  the  woods 
of  Mullah  answer  and  their  echoes  ring.' 


FORTUNE   MY   FOE  9 

But  these  were  Munster  pastorals  :  away  in  Dublin  Richard 
Boyle's  history  was  less  romantic. 

The  varied  pieces  of  work  that  had  fallen  into  his  hands 
had  given  him  clues  to  a  great  many  secrets  of  politicians  and 
underhand  dealings  of  their  followers,  and  guilty  consciences 
began  to  fear  that  he  knew  too  much  for  the  safety  of  some 
people  in  power.  He  afterwards  admitted  quite  candidly, 
that  although  he  had  made  a  collection  of  papers  showing  what 
great  abuse  and  deceits  were  done  her  Majesty  by  a  principal 
officer  in  the  kingdom,  he  had  no  intention  of  making  them 
public.  It  would  have  been  absurd  for  a  poor  and  unknown 
man  to  start  a  crusade  on  behalf  of  official  purity,  but  when  he 
was  attacked  he  let  out  a  good  deal  in  self-defence  that  his 
enemies  would  have  wished  to  keep  concealed. 

However,  in  1592  it  seemed  an  easy  matter  enough  to 
crush  this  upstart  young  lawyer  who  knew  too  much  for  the 
peace  of  mind  of  his  betters,  and  Lord  Deputy  Fitzwilliam 
threw  him  into  prison  on  a  charge  of  embezzling  records. 
When  questioned,  Boyle  said  simply  he  thought  the  Deputy 
had  some  other  purpose  ;  and  certainly  the  accusation  gave 
a  convenient  pretext  for  rummaging  through  Boyle's  private 
papers,  the  search  being  committed  to  a  man  named  Crosbie, 
who  soon  afterwards  appeared  in  open  rebellion  against  the 
English.  When  this  very  respectable  agent  had  secured  the 
documents  incriminating  his  employers,  Boyle  was  let  out  of 
prison  on  bail,  but  he  was  soon  after  rearrested  on  a  variety  of 
charges,  ranging  from  having  stolen  a  horse  nine  years  before 
to  being  in  the  pay  of  the  King  of  Spain ! 

He  gives  his  own  version  of  these  proceedings  in  his  'True 
Remembrances.  He  says,  '  When  God  had  blessed  me  with 
a  reasonable  fortune  and  estate,  Sir  Henry  Wallop,  Sir  Robert 
Gardiner,  Chief  Justice  of  the  King,  and  Sir  R.  Bingham, 


io     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

Chief  Commissioner  of  Connaught,  being  displeased  at  some 
purchase  I  made  in  the  province,  all  joined  together  by  their 
lies,  complaining  against  me  to  Queen  Elizabeth.' 

He  was  accused  of  having  kept  a  wardship  in  his  own 
hands  ;  to  which  he  answered  that  the  ward  was  granted  to 
him  in  reward  for  his  services,  and  was  killed  in  rebellion 
before  he  had  profited  ^10  by  him.  It  was  further  said  that 
about  1594,  one  Rawson  had  failed  to  get  his  grant  of  land 
passed  to  him  till  he  had  paid  such  heavy  bribes  to  Boyle  that 
he  found  it  cheaper  to  sell  all  the  lands  to  Boyle  outright 
for  a  very  low  price,  and  that  when  the  council  in  England 
sent  two  letters  to  inquire  into  the  case,  Boyle  bribed  the 
messenger,  Deane,  with  an  annuity,  to  tear  up  the  letters,  and 
further  gave  Rawson  a  gold  hat-band  and  eighteen  gold  and 
pearl  buttons  as  a  pledge  that  he  would  pay  him  ^100  to  con- 
ceal the  matter ;  of  which  £100  he  afterwards  cozened  Rawson. 
Boyle  replied  that  Rawson  had  been  discontented  with  certain 
lands  granted  to  him,  and  had  sold  them  to  him  in  the  ordinary 
way  of  business.  It  was  true  that  letters  from  the  English 
council  had  been  destroyed,  but  the  deed  was  done  by  Sir 
R.  Gardiner's  follower  Deane,  who  was  then  encouraged  by 
Sir  Henry  Wallop  to  join  with  Rawson  in  laying  the  blame 
on  Boyle  and  blackmailing  him,  till  friends  urged  Boyle  to 
pay  them  their  demands  and  get  leave  to  go  home  in  peace. 

The  peace  he  bought  was  not  worth  much.  He  was  soon 
after  thrown  into  prison  for  alleged  contempt  of  court  in  not 
having  entered  his  appearance  in  the  council-book,  and  three 
other  several  times  he  was  imprisoned  on  equally  frivolous 
charges. 

All  these  accusations  and  counter-accusations  are  pro- 
foundly uninteresting.  Few  people  would  care  to  ask  with 
how  much  mud  one  obscure  person  spattered  another  obscure 


FORTUNE   MY   FOE  11 

person  in  the  year  1592,  were  it  not  that  some  modern 
historians  have  implied  that  Boyle's  early  career  was  blackened 
by  many  unspecified  crimes,  and  it  is  therefore  well  to  rake 
up  the  old  dust-heap  for  once  and  see  how  shabby  and  how 
unsupported  the  accusations  against  him  were. 

They  say  'Love  laughs  at  locksmiths.'  Certain  it  is  that 
in  spite  of  imprisonment  and  examinations,  Boyle  found  liberty 
and  leisure  enough  during  these  troubled  years  to  woo  and 
win  a  wife  for  himself,  and  to  gain  a  larger  estate  by  love  than 
he  ever  did  by  law.  There  was  a  certain  Mr.  Apsley  or 
Annesley — people  were  quite  indifferent  in  those  days  as  to 
how  names  were  spelt,  and  apparently  as  to  how  they  were 
pronounced ; — this  gentleman,  however  his  name  was  spelt,  was 
a  wealthy  landowner  in  Limerick,  and  had  two  daughters,  who, 
on  the  drowning  of  his  only  son,  became  co-heiresses  of  their 
father's  estates.  It  was  said  by  gossips  that  young  Apsley  had 
drowned  himself,  and  that  the  suicide's  property  should  have 
escheated  to  the  Queen  as  his  feudal  superior,  had  not  Boyle 
made  himself  useful  to  the  Apsleys  by  concealing  the  real 
manner  of  the  young  man's  death ;  but  as  the  English  council 
afterwards  heard  this  charge,  and  laid  no  claim  to  the  estates, 
it  is  probably  only  another  of  the  lies  that  were  invented  to 
discredit  Boyle. 

One  of  Mr.  Apsley's  daughters  had  carried  the  estates  of 
the  Hospital  or  Preceptory  of  Awney,  a  foundation  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John  in  County  Limerick,  into  the  family  of 
Sir  Valentine  Browne,  one  of  the  commissioners  for  settling 
Munster  land  grants.1  The  other  daughter,  Joan,  the  heiress 


1  There  are  differing  accounts  of  the  first  owners  of  Hospital.  Miss  Hickson  says 
the  family  of  Brown  were  of  old  Anglo-Irish  descent  and  hereditary  wardens  of 
Awney,  and  a  Brown  heiress  brought  the  estates  to  Sir  Thomas  Browne,  whose  son 
John  married  Barbara,  niece  of  Richard  Boyle. — Ireland  in  Seventeenth  Century,  ii.  96. 


12     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

of  Galbally,  it  is  said,  was  '  charmed  by  Mr.  Boyle's  conversa- 
tion, and  although  her  fortune  was  vastly  superior  to  his,  her 
indulgent  father  suffered  them  to  marry.' l  This  marriage, 
as  Boyle  wrote,  '  was  the  beginning  of  his  fortune.'  Her  lands 
of  Galbally  were  worth  five  hundred  a  year,  and  he  suddenly 
found  himself  a  well-to-do  country  gentleman,  and  connected 
with  half  the  great  people  of  Munster. 

Yet  fortune  was  still  his  foe  :  this  gleam  of  prosperity  was 
but  a  rift  in  the  clouds.  He  married  in  1595,  and  had  one 
short  year  of  married  happiness  ;  then  his  young  wife  was  laid 
in  Buttevant  church  with  her  dead  baby  beside  her. 

Joan  bequeathed  all  her  property  to  her  husband,  but  he 
had  only  obtained  this  time  of  comparative  freedom  by  leaving 
bail  for  his  return  to  Dublin,  and  on  her  death  he  was  obliged 
to  surrender  himself  there.  He  was  at  once  committed  to 
prison,  where  he  remained  till  Burgh  the  Lord  Deputy  died, 
when  the  Council  said  Boyle's  fate  was  no  business  of  theirs, 
and  he  therefore  assumed  there  was  no  reason  for  his  remaining 
in  jail  any  longer,  and  so  departed  home  ! 

He  tells  us  that  he  had  by  that  time  realised  that  his  only 
chance  of  peace  would  be  to  go  into  England  and  justify 
himself  at  headquarters  ;  but  his  plans  for  the  future  were  taken 
out  of  his  hands,  for  in  October  1698  'the  general  rebellion 
of  Munster  broke  out,  all  my  lands  were  wasted  as  I  could 
say  I  had  not  one  penny  of  certain  revenue  left  me,  to  the 
unspeakable  danger  and  hazard  of  my  life,  yet  God  preserved 
me,  as  I  recovered  Dingle  and  got  shipping  there  which  trans- 
ported me  to  Bristol.' 

The  outburst  of  the  rebellion,  strange  to  say,  seems  to 
have  been  quite  unexpected  and  found  the  English  of  Munster 
totally  unprepared  to  defend  themselves  ;  although  they  were 

i  Birch. 


FORTUNE   MY   FOE  13 

quite  aware  that  the  Deputy  was  put  to  it  to  hold  his  own  in 
Ulster  against  the  Earl  of  Tyrone,  and  that  the  Munster  Irish 
whose  estates  had  been  forfeited  in  former  wars  were  only 
waiting  their  chance  to  rise  and  recover  their  property.  This 
chance  came  suddenly.  The  English  army  in  the  north 
suffered  a  crushing  defeat,  and  Bagnal  its  leader  was  slain. 
Instantly  Leinster  sprang  to  arms,  the  south  followed  suit,  and 
'  the  English  settlement  of  Munster  melted  away  like  a 
dream/ l  Spenser  and  his  wife  escaped  with  their  bare  lives 
from  the  flames  of  Kilcolman  Castle,  but  one  child  perished  in 
the  fire,  and  all  their  worldly  wealth  was  lost.  When  every  one 
fled,  bail  or  no  bail,  Boyle  naturally  fled  too.  It  is  really 
laughable  to  find  such  an  escape  spoken  of  as  '  breaking  bail,' 
and  if  Boyle  was  a  malefactor  it  is  certainly  odd  that  he  should 
have  chosen  the  Queen's  court  as  his  place  of  refuge  ! 

When  the  Munster  refugees  reached  England,  they  had 
to  turn  where  they  could  for  a  living.  The  storm  was  so 
sudden  that  even  those  with  money  laid  by,  or  with  rich  and 
powerful  friends,  were  unprovided  for  their  immediate  needs, 
and  Spenser  died,  if  not  absolutely  of  want,  yet  in  the  ex- 
tremity of  poverty.  Even  Boyle's  courage  failed.  It  seemed 
vain  to  fight  longer  against  fortune  :  his  wife  was  dead,  her 
lands  lost,  there  was  nothing  to  call  him  back  to  Ireland,  and 
he  had  made  up  his  mind  to  return  to  his  old  drudgery  as  a 
clerk  of  the  Temple,  when  his  happy  star  brought  him  into 
the  company  of  an  old  acquaintance  of  his  undergraduate  days, 
Anthony  Bacon,  and  Bacon  knew  where  a  man  from  Ireland 
would  be  welcome,  and  introduced  him  to  the  Earl  of  Essex. 
Essex  was  at  this  time  at  the  topmost  height  of  court  and 
popular  favour  ;  he  had  wrung  from  the  Queen  her  consent 
to  his  expedition  to  Ireland  as  '  general  of  our  gracious 

1  Bagwell,  Ireland  under  the  Tudor s,  iii.  304. 


i4     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Empress,'  and  was  now  in  the  full  tide  of  preparation.  Lack 
of  confidence  in  himself  was  never  one  of  Essex's  failings,  yet 
even  he  was  ready  to  hear  the  experiences  of  a  shrewd  man 
just  back  from  that  distressful  country,  and  Boyle  never  forgot 
how  *  his  lordship  very  nobly  received  me.'  Essex  at  once 
gave  him  work  to  do  in  *  issuing  out  his  patent  and  commis- 
sion for  the  government  of  Ireland,'  and  Boyle's  Dublin 
enemies  saw  with  dismay  that  the  storms  they  had  hoped 
would  swamp  him  had  only  driven  him  to  a  safe  harbourage 
in  Essex  House. 

'  Sir  Henry  Wallop,'  Boyle  writes,  '  being  conscious  in  his 
heart  that  I  had  sundry  papers  and  collections  of  Michael 
Kettlewell's,  his  late  under-treasurer,  which  might  discover  a 
great  deal  of  wrong  and  abuse  done  to  the  Queen  in  his  late 
accounts'  (it  seems  that  Crosbie  had  not  secured  all  the 
dangerous  documents  when  he  ransacked  Boyle's  papers), '  and 
suspecting  if  I  were  countenanced  by  the  Earl  of  Essex  that  I 
would  bring  these  things  to  light,  although  I  vow  to  God  until 
I  was  provoked  I  had  no  thought  of  it, — yet  he,  to  utterly 
suppress  me,  renewed  his  former  complaints  against  me.' 

So  just  when  Boyle  was  beginning  to  draw  breath  from  his 
misfortunes,  he  was  once  more  suddenly  attacked  and  conveyed 
close  prisoner1  to  the  Gatehouse  and  all  his  papers  seized. 
There  in  prison  he  remained  till  the  Earl  of  Essex  was  gone  to 
Ireland,  and  for  two  months  after  ;  and  now  Wallop  could 
not  doubt  that  he  had  Boyle  at  his  mercy  !  Essex  was  safe 
out  of  the  way,  and  Boyle's  friends,  witnesses,  and  relations, 
all  were  far  across  the  sea,  either  reduced  to  poverty  or  fighting 
for  their  lives  against  the  rebels. 

But  Boyle's  courage  and  resource  were  not  yet  at  an  end  : 
he  was  fighting  with  his  back  against  the  wall,  and  driven  from 
one  great  person  to  another,  he  boldly  appealed  to  the  highest, 


FORTUNE   MY   FOE  15 

*  and  with  much  suit  I  obtained  the  favour  of  her  sacred 
Majesty  to  be  present  at  my  answers.' 

The  old  accusations  were  now  all  brought  up  against  him 
anew,  and  so  ingeniously  arranged,  as  to  make  it  to  the 
Queen's  interest  to  decide  against  the  prisoner.  If  he  were 
proved  guilty,  it  might  be  possible  for  the  crown  to  be  the 
richer  by  fines  to  the  amount  of  £2700,  and  the  best  part  of 
the  Apsley  estates.  For  lack  of  his  papers  and  his  witnesses 
it  was  only  possible  for  Boyle  to  meet  many  of  the  counts  by 
a  simple  denial  ;  but  he  made  his  denial  boldly  and  forcibly 
enough  to  be  heard,  and  carried  the  war  into  the  enemy's 
country  by  declaring  he  could  reveal  embezzlements  by  the 
treasurer1  that  would  advantage  her  Majesty  £40,000  !  And 
'  if  ever,'  he  ended,  *  I  had  or  corruptly  received  of  Harry 
Chamberlain  any  horse,  let  me  be  hanged,  and  if  ever  I  com- 
pounded to  make  a  benefit  by  granting  any  of  her  Majesty's 
lands,  I  am  content  to  be  hanged,  drawn  and  quartered.'2 

Did  the  great  Queen's  thoughts  fly  back  to  the  day 
when,  young  and  friendless,  she  wrote  on  the  window  at 

Woodstock : — 

Much  accused  by  me, 
Can  nothing  proved  be, 
Quoth  Elysabeth  prisoner. 

Perhaps  some  memory  of  those  days  may  have  returned  to 
awake  sympathy  for  the  prisoner  who  was  holding  his  own 
against  the  world,  with  nothing  but  his  wit  and  courage  to 
back  him.  At  any  rate  when  Boyle  ended  his  appeal,  having, 
he  declares,  '  fully  answered  and  cleared  all  their  objections 
and  delivered  such  full  and  evident  justifications  for  my  own 
acquittal,'  the  Queen  swore  a  royal  oath,  '  By  God's  death, 

1  Sir  H.  Wallop. 

2  Betham  MSS.,  quoted  in  Ware's  History  of  Ireland,  i.  618,  also  Add.  MSS.,  19,832, 
f.  6  .      .  ia. 


1 6      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

these  are  but  inventions  against  this  young  man,  and  all  his 
sufferings  are  for  being  able  to  do  us  service,  and  these  com- 
plaints urged  to  forestall  him  therein,  but  WE  find  him  a  man 
fit  to  be  employed  by  ourselves,  and  WE  will  employ  him  in 
our  service,  and  Wallop  and  his  adherents  shall  know  that  it 
shall  not  be  in  the  power  of  any  of  them  to  wrong  him,  neither 
shall  Wallop  be  our  treasurer  any  longer.'  'And  hereupon,' 
continues  Boyle,  '  directed  her  speech  to  her  Lords  in  her 
Council  these  presents,  and  commanded  them  presently  to 
give  her  the  names  of  six  men  out  of  whom  she  might  choose 
one  to  be  Treasurer  of  Ireland,  her  election  falling  upon 
Sir  George  Carew  of  Cockington.  And  the  Queen  arose 
from  Council  and  gave  order  not  only  for  my  present  enlarge- 
ment, but  also  discharging  all  my  charges  and  fees  during  my 
restraints,  and  gave  me  her  royal  hand  to  kiss,  which  I  did 
heartily,  humbly  thanking  God  for  that  great  deliverance.' 

Can  anything  be  more  romantic  since  the  days  of  Aventine 
and  the  Fair  One  with  the  Golden  Locks  !  And,  as  the 
proper  end  in  a  fairy  tale,  the  handsome  hero,  delivered  from 
prison,  was  commanded  to  come  to  court.  '  And  it  was  not 
many  days  before  her  Highness  was  pleased  to  bestow  upon  me 
the  offer  of  Clerk  of  the  Council  of  Munster,  and  to  recom- 
mend me  over  to  Sir  George  Carew.' 

Boyle's  rise  was  so  sudden  and  unexpected  that  it  cannot 
be  wondered  that  he  devoutly  believed  that  Providence  had 
indeed  taken  him  by  the  hand.  Not  one  misfortune  had  he 
sustained  that  had  not  really  worked  for  his  good.  If  he  had 
succeeded  at  the  Temple,  he  would  have  lived  the  life  of  an 
ordinary  London  lawyer,  but  his  failure  sent  him  to  Ireland  : 
there  he  might  have  settled  down  as  a  comfortable  country 
gentleman  but  for  the  rebellion  that  drove  him  to  England  ; 
and  in  England  he  might  have  been  forgotten  but  for  the 


FORTUNE   MY   FOE  17 

persecution  of  his  enemies  obliging  him  to  appeal  to  the 
Queen.  Even  the  imprisonment  that  prevented  him  following 
Essex  to  Ireland  also  prevented  his  sharing  Essex's  fall,  and 
kept  him  in  England  till  he  could  begin  his  new  career  under 
the  patronage  of  a  much  safer  friend  than  Essex,  the  wise 
and  valiant  George  Carew,  a  courtier  who  knew  how  to  keep 
the  Queen's  favour  to  the  day  of  her  death,  and  a  soldier 
whose  stubborn  courage  wearied  out  even  the  spirits  of  Irish 
insurgents. 


CHAPTER    II 

'PACATA    HIBERNIA' 
1599 — I^°I 

'  Were  now  the  general  of  our  gracious  Empress 
(As  in  good  time  he  may)  from  Ireland  coming 
Bringing  rebellion  broached  on  his  sword  .  .  .' 

Henry  V.>  Act  v. 

WHEN  Boyle  landed  in  Kerry  as  Clerk  to  the  Munster 
Council,  he  was  no  richer  in  coined  money  than  when  he 
fled  to  England  at  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion.  But  he  had 
arrived  in  England  as  a  fugitive,  a  ruined  landowner,  and  a 
prisoner  who  had  broken  bail ;  he  returned  to  Ireland  buoyed 
up  by  the  hopes  and  ambitions  of  the  men  who  were  resolved 
to  create  a  new  Munster.  The  history  of  the  way  in  which 
they  pacified  Ireland  was  told  by  Carew  himself  in  his  Pacata 
Hibernia?  and  although  there  are  but  two  allusions  to  Boyle 
by  name  in  that  brilliant  narrative,  it  makes  us  realise,  as  no 
other  book  but  the  Faery  £>ueen  can  do,  in  what  sort  of  times 
Boyle  lived,  what  manner  of  men  were  his  comrades,  and 
under  what  teacher  he  learned  the  art  of  government. 

This  Munster  war  was  but  a  fresh  outbreak  of  the  flames 
that  had  been  smouldering  there  since  the  time  of  the  great 
Desmond  rebellion,  and  now  had  wakened  to  fresh  life  at 
the  call  of  Tyrone  and  Red  Hugh  O'Donnell  from  Ulster. 

1  Pacata  Hibernia  was  published  under  the  name  of  Carew's  son,  Sir  Thomas 
Stafford,  but  Boyle  always  speaks  of  it  as  Carew's  book. 
18 


'PACATA   HIBERNIA'  19 

The  English  had  hoped  that  Munster  was  pacified,  when, 
sixteen  years  before,  the  luckless  old  Earl  of  Desmond  had 
been  run  to  ground  by  the  English  in  a  herdsman's  hut,  and 
his  silver  head  struck  off  and  sent  to  blacken  on  London 
Bridge.  His  only  son,  young  James  Fitzgerald,  could  see  it 
plain  enough  from  the  window  of  the  prison  in  the  Tower 
where  he  was  kept  caged  from  his  childhood.  The  poor  boy 
was  the  Queen's  godson,  and  as  the  true  representative  of  the 
great  Desmond  name  was  a  valuable  piece  of  property,  so  the 
Queen  saw  that  he  was  carefully  educated,  though  he  was  as 
carefully  kept  a  prisoner. 

But  away  in  Munster  the  Desmond  clan  cared  little  for 
the  death  of  one  earl  or  the  imprisonment  of  his  heir  ;  a  fresh 
head  of  the  family  was  found  in  '  the  Sugan  Earl,'  as  he  was 
derisively  called,  '  the  Earl  of  Straw,'  who  had  neither  money 
nor  wit,  and  was  but  a  straw-puppet  for  the  wily  Earl  of 
Tyrone  to  use  as  he  chose.  Yet  against  this  puppet  the 
resources  of  the  English  in  Ireland  were  taxed  to  the  utter- 
most, for  behind  him  stood  a  greater  than  Tyrone — the 
shadowy  form  of  Philip  of  Spain.  '  Spain,'  said  a  candid 
Spanish  captain  to  one  of  Carew's  officers,  '  Spain  owes  Eng- 
land something  for  encouraging  the  rebels  in  the  Netherlands. 
Ireland  matters  little  to  us,  but  we  like  to  pay  our  debts.' 

In  July  1599  Carew,  the  Lord  President  of  Munster,  'my 
faithful  George,'  as  the  Queen  called  him,  was  threatening  the 
Irish  fortress  of  Carrigfoyle  in  Kerry;  and  there  Richard  Boyle 
joined  him,  and  did  not  come  empty-handed,  for  he  writes  : 
*  I  bought  of  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  his  ship  called  the  Pilgrim, 
with  which  I  took  a  freight  of  ammunition  and  victuals,  and 
came  in  her  myself  by  long  seas.' 

At  Carrigfoyle  Boyle  took  the  oath  of  his  office,  and  was, 
he  says,  '  made  Justice  and  Quorum  through  the  Province. 


20     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

And  this  was  my  second  rise  that  God  gave  me  to  my  fortune. 
As  Clerk  to  the  Council  I  attended  my  Lord  President  in  all 
his  employments.' 

Very  varied  employments  these  were,  and  although  Boyle 
was  too  prudent  to  record  his  share  in  them,  we  may  be 
assured  that  he  helped  Carew  to  choose  the  russet  jerkins 
which  enabled  his  soldiers  to  steal  over  the  hillsides  unobserved 
by  their  keen-sighted  enemy;  that  he  was  present  at  the  secret 
meetings,  and  wrote  the  secret  letters  by  which  Carew  sowed 
dissension  between  the  jealous  Irish  chieftains ;  that  he  drafted 
the  terms  of  negotiation  with  the  Spanish  invaders  and  rode 
near  the  Lord  President  when  he  surveyed  the  fortifications  of 
Dunboy  and  was  nearly  carried  off  by  a  cannon-ball.  Boyle 
had  not,  however,  the  glory  of  entering  on  his  duties  at  the 
storm  of  a  fortress,  for  strictly  speaking  the  Lord  President 
did  not  lay  siege  to  Carrigfoyle  at  all.  Its  keeper  was  wise 
enough  to  take  warning  by  the  storm  of  the  Castle  of  Glyn, 
five  miles  off,  and  surrendering  his  post,  was  richly  rewarded, 
and  kept  his  oath  till  a  convenient  opportunity  arrived  for 
breaking  it. 

And  so  the  Munster  campaign  dragged  on.  The  Irish 
swore  and  were  forsworn.  They  broke  their  word  to  Spain, 
to  England,  to  each  other.  They  fought  like  heroes  and  lied 
like  Cretans,  and  still  the  grim  figure  of  Carew  moved  for- 
wards, negotiating,  bribing,  fighting,  and  at  last  annihilating, 
without  haste  and  without  rest.  And  through  the  dripping 
woods  of  oak  and  arbutus  and  yew,  up  glens  knee-deep  in 
Osmunda  fern  and  across  moorlands  knee-deep  in  heather  or 
in  snow,  the  russet-clad  English  soldiers  dragged  their  guns, 
till  one  grey  robber  fortress  after  another  surrendered  or 
was  stormed,  and  now  stands  forgotten,  an  empty  shell  over- 
looking an  empty  sea. 


'PACATA   HIBERNIA'  21 

And  all  this  time,  this  same  grim  Lord  President  Carew 
was  writing  back  sentimental  letters  to  her  Majesty  at  Green- 
wich. '  When  I  compare  the  felicities  which  other  men  enjoy, 
with  my  unfortunate  destiny  to  be  deprived  of  the  sight  of 
your  royal  person  ...  I  live  like  one  lost  to  himself  and 
wither  out  my  days  in  torment  of  mind  ! '  The  rough  draft 
of  this  effusion  among  Carew's  papers  is  even  more  ecstatic  and 
gives  '  divine  '  person  instead  of  '  royal '  person  ! 

And  the  Queen  answers :  'My  faithful  George,  how  joyed 
we  are  that  so  good  event  hath  followed  so  toilsome  endeavour, 
laborious  cares  and  heedful  travails  you  may  guess,  but  we  can 
best  witness,  and  do  protest  that  your  safety  hath  equalled 
the  most  thereof,'  and  so  on,  epistle  after  epistle !  Ralegh 
cynically  comments  on  Elizabeth's  tenderness  :  '  The  Queen 
thinks  she  wants  George  Carew.  Let  her  have  George 
Carew ! ' 

Indeed  valentines  are  cold  compared  to  such  correspond- 
ence, and  yet  these  preposterous  compliments  do  not  strike 
one  as  entirely  insincere.  During  her  long  reign  Elizabeth 
had  set  herself  to  personify  England  with  such  success  that 
in  addressing  her  Grace  with  religious  fervour,  her  subjects 
merely  felt  they  were  using  the  ordinary  language  of  loyalty 
and  piety.  Britannia  had  not  then  taken  her  place  upon  our 
pennies.  In  the  sixteenth  century  there  was  no  need  for  a 
helmeted  lady  with  a  trident  to  typify  England,  and  poets 
hymned  the  c  Virgin  throned  by  the  West '  with  a  fervour 
that  in  our  less  romantic  days  seems  to  verge  on  absurdity, 
if  not  on  impropriety,  and  felt  no  shame. 

In  the  year  1600  the  Queen  determined  to  try  if  it  would  be 
possible  to  make  use  of  the  feelings  of  loyalty  usually  cherished 
by  the  Irish  for  their  hereditary  chieftains,  to  pacify  the 
unhappy  country.  Young  James  of  Desmond  was  brought 


22      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

out  of  the  Tower  and  received  at  Court,  and  then  despatched 
to  Carew  under  the  charge  of  a  sober,  discreet  gentleman, 
Captain  Price,  to  see  if  a  boy  earl  might  not  be  as  much  to 
the  taste  of  the  Munster  Geraldines  as  an  Earl  of  Straw 
But  although  the  poor  bird  was  let  out  of  his  cage  in  pre- 
tended liberty,  Carew  had  him  by  a  leash,  and  was  given 
absolute  power  by  Cecil  either  to  make  him  or  mar  him  as 
would  be  most  to  the  English  interest.  Boyle  had  an 
important  part  to  play  in  this  experiment,  but  he  discreetly 
left  it  to  Carew  to  relate  as  much  of  the  secret  service 
business  as  he  thought  well,  and  said  no  word  himself  of  his 
employments. 

As  soon  as  young  Desmond  arrived  in  Ireland  Carew  put 
him  under  Boyle's  care,  and  knowing  that  the  Clerk  of  the 
Council  would  keep  a  sharp  watch  on  such  an  important 
charge,  ventured  to  let  the  young  Earl  leave  the  English 
headquarters  and  travel  into  the  disturbed  districts  to  try  his 
fortunes  among  his  own  people.  Boyle  preserved  no  private 
record  of  this  journey.  He  reported  only  to  Carew,  and  it  is 
only  Carew's  words  that  tell  the  story.1 

*  The  President,  to  make  trial  of  the  disposition  and  affec- 
tion of  the  young  Earl's  kindred  and  followers,  at  his  desire 
consented  that  he  should  make  a  journey  from  Moyallo 2  into 
the  county  of  Limerick,  accompanied  with  the  Archbishop  of 
Cashell  and  Master  Boyle,  Clerk  of  the  Council  (a  person 
whom  the  Lord  President  did  repose  much  trust  and  con- 
fidence in,  and  with  whom  he  then  communicated  and  advised 
about  his  most  secret  and  serious  affairs  of  government);  and 
to  Master  Boyle  his  lordship  gave  secret  charge,  as  well  to 
observe  the  Earl's  ways  and  secret  carriage,  as  what  men  of 
quality  and  others  made  their  address  to  him  :  and  with  what 

1  Pacata  Hibernia,  edit.  1633,  p.  91.  2  Mallow. 


'PACATA   HIBERNIA'  23 

respects  and  behaviour  they  carried  themselves  towards  the 
Earl :  who  came  to  Kilmallock  upon  a  Saturday  in  the  evening, 
and  by  the  way  and  at  their  entry  into  the  town  there  was  a 
mighty  concourse  of  people  insomuch  as  all  the  streets,  doors 
and  windows,  yea,  the  very  gutters  and  tops  of  the  houses, 
were  so  filled  with  them,  as  if  they  came  to  see  him  that 
God  had  sent  to  be  that  comfort  and  delight  their  souls  and 
hearts  most  desired,  and  they  welcomed  him  with  all  the 
expressions  and  signs  of  joy,  every  one  throwing  upon  him 
wheat  and  salt  (an  ancient  ceremony  used  in  that  province 
upon  the  election  of  their  new  mayors  and  officers  as  a 
prediction  of  fulness,  peace,  and  plenty).  That  night  the 
Earl  was  invited  to  supper  at  Sir  George  Thornton's,  who 
then  kept  his  house  in  the  town  of  Kilmallock,  and  altho'  the 
Earl  had  a  guard  of  soldiers  who  made  a  lane  from  his 
lodgings  to  Sir  George  Thornton's  house,  yet  the  confluence 
of  people  that  flocked  thither  to  see  him  was  so  great  as  in 
half  an  hour  he  could  not  make  his  passage  thro'  the  crowd; 
and  after  supper  he  had  the  like  encounters  at  his  return  to 
his  lodging.  The  next  day  being  Sunday  the  Earl  went  to 
church  to  hear  divine  service,  and  all  the  way  his  country 
people  used  loud  and  rude  dehortations  to  keep  him  from 
church,  unto  which  he  lent  a  deaf  ear :  but  after  service  and 
the  sermon  was  ended,  the  Earl  coming  forth  of  the  church 
was  railed  at  and  spit  upon  by  those  that  before  his  going  to 
church  were  so  desirous  to  see  and  salute  him :  insomuch  as 
after  that  public  expression  of  his  religion  the  town  was 
cleared  of  that  multitude  of  strangers,  and  the  Earl  from 
henceforth  might  walk  as  quietly  and  freely  in  the  town,  as 
little  in  effect  followed  or  regarded  as  any  other  private 
gentleman.' 

That  Sunday  decided  the  future  of  the  Queen's  Earl.     He 


24     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

had  no  inducements  to  remain  in  his  native  land,  and  having 
been,  Carew  says,  '  tenderly  brought  up  in  England,  he  did 
not  well  agree  with  the  manners  and  customs  of  Ireland '  (one 
is  thankful  to  hear  the  tender  mercies  of  the  Tower  of  London 
had  been  so  great)  ;  and  being  also  bitterly  disappointed  at 
'  seeing  how  much  he  was  deceived  in  his  hopes,  he  desired  the 
Lord  President  to  give  him  leave  to  go  into  England,  which 
the  President  readily  did,'  being  much  disgusted  that  the  poor 
pawn  had  proved  of  no  use  in  his  game.  James  of  Desmond 
gladly  turned  his  back  on  his  native  land,  his  intriguing 
relations,  and  alienated  clansmen  ;  but  the  doom  of  the 
Geraldines  was  on  him,  and  the  only  home  he  found  in  Eng- 
land was  under  the  English  sod.  Possibly  the  hardships  of 
his  life  in  Ireland  had  been  too  great  for  the  town-bred  youth 
to  survive  for  many  months,  but  most  men  believe  that  scene  at 
Kilmallock  church  was  the  deathblow  of  the  last  Desmond  as 
surely  as  if  his  clansmen  had  stabbed  him  with  their  daggers. 

In  reading  the  records  of  those  times,  it  is  startling  to 
discover  that  James  of  Desmond  is  not  by  any  means  the  only 
Elizabethan  who  died  of  a  broken  heart.  We  picture  them 
to  ourselves  as  unscrupulous,  reckless  soldiers,  as  hard  as  iron, 
and  as  insensible  as  a  millstone ;  and  yet  we  find,  among 
many  others,  a  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland,  Burgh,  who  died  of 
grief  at  the  loss  of  a  foster-brother  who  had  rescued  him 
in  battle  at  the  cost  of  his  life  ;  Sir  Thomas  Norris,  President 
of  Munster,  who  was  believed  to  have  died  of  disappointed 
ambitions  ;  and,  perhaps  saddest  of  all,  young  Roger  Hervey, 
Carew's  cousin  and  right-hand  man,  who  died  at  Baltimore, 
'  his  heart  being  overwhelmed  with  an  inundation  of  sorrow 
and  discontent '  at  some  blame  laid  on  him  by  the  Lord 
Deputy  for  the  mismanagement  of  his  artillery.  Do  not 
these  passionate  Renaissance  figures  breathe  the  very  atmo- 


'P  AC  ATA   HIBERNIA'  25 

sphere  of  Shakespeare's  plays  ?  Alas  !  it  was  even  whispered 
that  Measure  for  Measure  had  been  played  in  real  earnest 
in  Munster,  and  the  Lord  President  had  taken  the  part  of 
Angelo. 

Fortunately  Boyle  was  made  of  tougher  fibre  than  his 
contemporaries  :  he  bent  before  the  tempests  that  broke  them, 
and  rose  again  triumphantly  when  the  danger  was  past,  and 
all  he  had  to  do  with  tragedies  was  to  pay  actors  to  perform 
them  before  him  in  the  hall  of  his  country  house. 

The  Deputy  and  Carew  had  little  time  to  regret  the  failure 
of  young  Desmond  to  pacify  Ireland,  for  a  greater  danger  was 
before  them.  In  September  1601  tidings  came  that  a  Spanish 
fleet  was  on  the  sea,  and  that  Tyrone  and  Red  Hugh 
O'Donnell  were  hurrying  from  the  north  to  join  their  foreign 
allies. 

The  Spaniards  established  themselves  at  Kinsale,  and  the 
English  leaders  gathered  what  forces  they  could,  and,  encamp- 
ing on  the  landward  side  of  the  town,  while  Captain  Button 
guarded  the  entrance  to  the  harbour,  proceeded  to  besiege  the 
invaders,  although  the  English  troops  died  off  like  flies  in 
the  wet  Irish  winter.  Tyrone  was  an  experienced  soldier,  and 
was  well  satisfied  to  let  '  General  November '  fight  his  battles 
for  him  ;  but  the  climate  suited  the  invaders  as  little  as  it  did 
the  English.  The  fiery  Spaniards  despised  Tyrone's  waiting 
game,  and  so  persistently  urged  him  to  strike  a  decisive  blow 
that  at  last  he  was  obliged  to  yield  to  their  desires  and,  against 
his  own  better  judgment,  offer  battle  to  the  deputy. 

The  Irish  army  was  more  hopeful  than  its  general,  and  as 
they  advanced,  the  soldiers  were  chiefly  busy  in  discussing 
how  they  should  dispose  of  the  prisoners  they  were  presently 
to  take.  But  they  found  too  soon  ,that  the  English,  whom 
they  had  imagined  disabled  by  famine  and  sickness,  were  still 


26     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

very  ready  to  fight,  and  had,  as  usually  happened,  been 
warned  by  a  traitor  of  the  Irish  intentions.  Without  waiting 
for  Tyrone's  advance,  the  deputy's  troops  charged,  led  by 
Lord  Clanrickard  and  Marshal  Wingfield.  The  Irish,  unpre- 
pared for  their  attack,  resisted  but  for  a  short  time,  and  then 
turned  and  fled,  many  of  them  being  so  carried  away  by  panic 
that  they  did  not  even  wait  to  strike  a  blow. 

The  Spanish  veterans  in  Kinsale,  hearing  shot  and  seeing 
banners  advance,  concluded  that  the  Irish  were  on  their  way 
to  join  them,  and  sallied  forth  to  find,  to  their  rage  and  disgust, 
that  their  allies  were  fled,  and  the  banners  they  had  hailed 
were  but  captured  trophies  in  the  hands  of  the  English. 

The  Deputy's  victory  was  decisive  :  the  Spanish  officers 
accompanied  their  victors  back  to  Cork,  and  found  the  com- 
forts of  civilisation  and  the  society  of  their  English  enemies 
infinitely  more  to  their  taste  than  siege  fare  and  the  company 
of  their  Irish  allies. 

Mountjoy  and  Carew  might  rest  on  their  laurels.  Ireland 
was  at  their  feet,  and  her  last  ally  was  weary  of  her.  Tyrone 
led  his  troops  back  to  the  north,  and  Red  Hugh  sailed  for 
Spain  with  the  flower  of  the  Munster  Irish,  there  to  lay  his 
broken  heart  in  an  exile's  grave.  The  general  of  the  Spanish 
forces  returned  home  to  be  received  by  his  King  with  such 
coldness  that  his  proud  spirit  could  not  survive  the  mortifica- 
tion, and  he  also  died,  yet  another  brave  man  sacrificed  to  the 
syren  charms  of  the  '  distressful  country.' 

The  news  of  the  surrender  of  Kinsale  was  sent  off  to 
England  without  delay  ;  but  Carew  had  no  fancy  to  let  the 
deputy's  messenger,  Sir  Harry  Danvers,  be  the  first  herald  of 
victory.  He  himself  must  find  a  swifter  envoy,  and  tell  the 
tidings  in  a  more  romantic  fashion  if  he  were  to  keep  up  his 
character  as  Gloriana's  lovelorn  champion. 


'PACATA   HIBERNIA'  27 

He  had  not  to  seek  far  to  find  a  fitting  man  to  do  his 
errand.  His  clerk,  Richard  Boyle,  needed  no  spur  when  he 
knew  his  haste  might  *  catch  the  skirts  of  happy  chance.' 
Even  in  these  days  of  steam  we  could  hardly  better  the  speed 
with  which  he  crossed  the  Channel,  rode  post  to  London,  and 
was  the  proud  bearer  of  the  good  news  to  the  English  Court. 

He  tells  in  his  memoirs,  '  I  made  speedy  expedition  to  the 
Court :  for  I  left  my  Lord  President  at  Shandon  Castle  near 
Cork  on  the  Monday  morning  about  two  of  the  clock,  and 
the  next  day  being  Tuesday  I  delivered  my  packet  and  supped 
with  Sir  Robert  Cecil  at  his  house  in  the  Strand.' 

With  the  wind  against  him,  Boyle  might  have  waited  three 
weeks  or  three  months  at  Cork ;  but  with  a  strong  breeze  in 
his  favour  it  was  quite  possible  for  him  to  embark  at  two  in 
the  morning,  and  slip  across  the  Channel  to  Bristol  in  twenty- 
four  hours.  The  harbour  was  full  of  swift  sailing-ships  that 
were  practised  in  making  their  best  speed  to  escape  pirates  or 
to  do  a  little  piracy  themselves,  and  one  of  them  might  well 
accomplish  a  feat  which  was  equalled  by  the  common  sailing- 
boat  that  carried  Mrs.  Delaney  in  1754  in  thirteen  hours 
from  Chester  to  Ireland.  Once  arrived  in  England,  relays  of 
horses  were  easily  got ;  Boyle  would  take  the  London  road 
from  Bristol,  and  riding  hard  all  the  next  day,  might  well 
arrive  in  London  by  supper-time. 

This  feat  was  by  no  means  unique.  About  fifty  years 
later  the  Duke  of  Ormond  left  London  at  four  o'clock  on  a 
Saturday  morning,  sailed  from  Bristol  at  eight  o'clock  on  the 
Sunday  morning,  reached  Waterford  in  twenty-five  hours,  and 
dined  at  his  own  house  at  Carrick  at  three  o'clock  on  Monday 
afternoon.1 

When  Boyle  did  reach  London  little   time  for  rest  was 

1  Carte.  Ormond,  \.  19. 


28     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

allowed  him.  Cecil  kept  him  in  discourse,  he  says,  till  two 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  woke  him  up  at  seven  to  attend 
him  to  Court,  '  where  he  presented  me  to  her  Majesty  in  her 
bedchamber,  who  remembered  me,  calling  me  by  my  name, 
and  giving  me  her  hand  to  kiss,  telling  me  she  was  glad  I  was 
the  happy  man  to  bring  first  news  of  the  glorious  victory.' 
Boyle  had  ridden  his  race  to  good  purpose  ! 

He  continues  :  '  And  after  her  Majesty  had  interrogated 
me  upon  sundry  questions  very  punctually,  and  that  thereon  I 
had  given  her  full  satisfaction  in  every  particular,  she  gave  me 
again  her  hand  to  kiss  and  commanded  my  despatch  for  Ire- 
land, and  so  dismissed  me  with  grace  and  favour.'  How  the 
glamour  lingered  round  the  great  Queen  to  the  last,  and  how 
well  Carew  selected  his  messenger ! 

But  Boyle's  stay  at  Court,  triumphant  though  it  was,  was 
a  short  one.  There  was  still  work  on  hand  for  Carew  and  his 
staff,  and  Boyle  hurried  back  to  find  him  preparing  to  reduce 
the  last  Munster  fortress,  the  far-famed  castle  of  Dunboy. 
But  when  the  troops  retired  to  their  winter  quarters  in 
October,  Boyle  was  once  more  despatched  to  Court  to  act 
as  Carew's  mouthpiece  in  the  discussion  of  Irish  affairs.  The 
letter  he  carried  from  the  Munster  Council  stated  that  '  Boyle, 
by  his  sufficiency  and  understanding  of  the  country,  is  well 
able  to  give  satisfaction.' l  The  country  might  be  considered 
at  peace,  '  pacata  HiberniaJ  Carew  proudly  wrote  :  others 
might  sigh,  '  They  make  a  wilderness  and  call  it  peace.' 
Munster  had  now  to  be  re-peopled,  re-organised,  almost 
re-discovered,  and  Carew  understood  that  a  shrewd  man  who 
understood  the  local  conditions  might  be  very  useful  to  the 
English  council. 

But  Cecil  knew  the  slippery  ways  of  the  world  too  well  to 

1  Carew  MSS.,  Lambeth. 


'PACATA   HIBERNIA'  29 

give  his  confidence  easily,  and  at  first  all  the  praise  contained 
in  the  letters  of  introduction  did  not  prevent  Elizabeth's 
minister  looking  rather  coldly  on  the  plausible  young  lawyer. 
Boyle  had  powerful  enemies  at  Court,  who  only  spared  him 
as  long  as  luck  was  against  him  ;  and  in  spite  of  his  good 
service  in  Ireland,  he  might  have  fared  badly  if  his  patron  had 
not  happened  to  be  one  of  the  few  men  whom  the  suspicious 
and  lonely  Cecil  would  trust. 

The  minister's  affectionate  letters  to  Carew,  full  of  hints 
and  cautions  and  wise  suggestions  as  to  how  her  Majesty  was 
to  be  wheedled  into  doing  what  was  wanted,  give  an  extra- 
ordinary idea  of  the  tension  at  which  people  lived  in  sixteenth- 
century  England.  Life  seemed  an  endless  game  at  dice. 
Poverty,  dishonour,  death,  seemed  to  merely  wait  on  a  chance 
throw,  while  another  chance  might  endow  an  unknown 
adventurer  with  wealth,  rank,  and  power,  everything  that 
heart  could  desire  in  an  age  when  desires  were  boundless. 
Boyle's  future  still  hung  on  a  mere  thread. 

In  one  of  Cecil's  letters  to  Carew,  after  explaining  his 
latest  diplomatic  wiles  with  some  pride,  he  made  a  passing 
allusion  to  Carew's  messenger.  '  Boyle  is  accused  by  Crosby,' 
he  wrote,  '  for  I  know  not  what  of  cozening  and  concealing  ; 
one  barrel  little  better  herring  than  the  other.  Let  me  know 
therefore  whether  you  would  have  him  favoured  or  no. 
Truly  this  fellow  seems  witty.' l 

It  was  Crosbie  who  had  rummaged  through  Boyle's  papers 
a  dozen  years  earlier,  and  though  he  had  failed  that  time,  he 
still  hoped  to  find  some  fashion  of  ruining  Boyle.  Fortun- 
ately his  enmity  was  so  unconcealed  that  his  accusations  were 
rated  at  their  true  value.  The  Vice-Chamberlain,  Sir  John 
Stanhope,  wrote  to  Carew,  '  for  Boyle,  there  hath  been  great 

1  Cal  Carenu  MSS.  (1602),  p.  364. 


30      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

working  against  him,  and  many  means  moved  to  put  me  in  it, 
by  telling  me  you  were  weary  of  him  and  would  give  way  to 
any  such  course  ;  but  I  was  loth  to  meddle  in  that  kind  with 
any  under  your  protection,  and  now  he  is  come,  am  satisfied 
not  only  to  deal  myself  but  to  stop  any  other  course  against 
him  I  shall  hear  of.' 

But  it  was  not  easy  now  to  win  the  Queen's  favour  by  a 
ready  repartee  or  a  graceful  compliment.  Elizabeth  was 
grown  old  and  irritable,  and  impatient  of  the  greedy  and 
time-serving  fortune-hunters  who  filled  her  Court.  She 
remembered  Boyle  no  longer  as  the  messenger  of  Irish 
victories,  but  as  a  shifty  lawyer  who  had  never  thoroughly 
cleared  himself  of  a  hundred  and  one  petty  accusations  made 
years  before.  Luckily  Carew's  influence  was  great,  and  Stan- 
hope was  ready  to  keep  him  informed  of  the  intrigues  of 
Boyle's  enemies.  He  wrote  again  on  the  I9th  of  November  : 
' 1  received  your  kind  letter  by  your  officer,  Mr.  Boyle,  who 
hath  been  diversely  assaulted  here  by  such  as  would  have 
shadowed  their  private  malice  with  pretext  of  the  queen's 
service,  who  indeed  are  hardly  incensed  against  him.  But 
their  clamours  ceasing  to  pursue  him  by  some  good  course 
taken  by  himself  and  his  friends,  her  Majesty,  I  think,  will 
easily  both  forget  and  let  fall  any  hard  conceit  she  had  of  him. 
Myself  was  as  much  pressed  as  anybody  to  incense  the  Queen 
against  him,  the  rather  because  the  examination  of  his  causes 
had  been  formerly  referred  to  me.  But  the  slight  proof  I  then 
saw  produced  against  him  and  your  assertion  of  the  trial  you 
had  made  of  him,  made  me  unwilling  to  be  made  an  instru- 
ment to  punish  one  who  perhaps  otherwise  in  sundry  services 
hath  deserved  well.1 

The    great   Cecil   soon    became   really   desirous   to    help 

1  Col.  Care<w  MSS.,  p.  393. 


'PACATA    HIBERNIA'  31 

Carew's  favourite  and  mollify  the  Queen.  He  wrote  on 
December  22,  1602:  'Although  I  have  not  heard  more  general 
imputation  thrown  upon  any  man  than  there  hath  been 
upon  this  bearer,  yet  when  it  came  to  the  point,  I  saw  no  man 
that  could  or  would  object  any  particular.  Nevertheless,  be- 
cause it  is  not  easy  to  put  out  of  a  prince's  mind  matter  of 
accusation  till  there  be  some  purgation,  I  have  offered  the 
Queen  from  him  this  much,  that  if  any  man  shall  hereafter 
come  forth  to  charge  him,  he  shall  be  ready  to  answer  upon 
any  warning.  This  did  a  little  stay  her,  but  it  is  true  that 
none  of  all  this  could  have  so  much  swayed  her  judgment  if 
it  had  wanted  your  testimony,  of  whose  discretion  she  is  so 
well  persuaded.  I  do,  therefore,  now  return  him  to  you, 
better  than  he  came  in  opinion  of  those  that  knew  him  not, 
which  is  much  I  can  tell  you,  in  our  world.  And  now  for 
myself,  I  must  confess  I  have  found  him  to  be  sufficient  in  all 
things  wherein  he  hath  dealt,  for  your  own  particular,  both 
diligent  and  affectionate.' 

If  Boyle  had  succeeded  in  nothing  else,  to  have  won  such 
words  of  approbation  from  Cecil  was  enough  to  send  him 
home  in  triumph.  But  he  had  yet  another  success  to  score. 
Before  he  left  Ireland,  Carew  had  determined  to  give  him  all 
chances  of  making  his  fortune,  and  Boyle  in  his  True 
Remembrances  tells  the  story  of  how  the  Lord  President 
'  propounded  unto  me  the  purchase  of  all  Sir  Walter  Ralegh's 
lands  in  Munster,  offering  me  his  best  assistance  for  the  com- 
passing thereof,  which  he  really  performed,  for  upon  my 
departure  for  England,  he  wrote  by  me  two  letters,  one  to 
Sir  Robert  Cecil,  wherein  he  was  pleased  to  magnify  my 
services  and  abilities,  and  concluded  with  a  request  that  he 
would  make  intercession  with  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  to  sell  me 
all  his  lands  in  Ireland,  that  were  then  altogether  waste  and 


32     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

desolate.  To  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  he  also  wrote  advising  him 
to  sell  me  all  his  lands  in  Ireland  here  untenanted,  and  of  no 
value  to  him,  mentioning  withal  that  in  his  lordship's  know- 
ledge, his  estates  in  Ireland  never  yielded  him  any  benefit,  but 
contrarywise  stood  him  in  £200  yearly  for  the  maintenance 
and  support  of  his  titles.  Whereupon  there  was  a  meeting 
between  Sir  Robert  Cecil,  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  and  myself, 
when  Sir  Robert  Cecil  mediated  and  concluded  the  purchase 
between  us,  and  accordingly  my  assurances  were  perfected.' l 

So  having  become  the  lord  of  forty-two  thousand  acres 
of  land,  and  having  won  permission  for  Carew  to  return  to 
England,  Boyle,  in  January  1603,  received  his  letters  for  the 
Munster  Council,  and  kissed  the  Queen's  hand  for  the  last 
time :  he  never  saw  her  again.  Gladly  he  must  have  said 
farewell  to  the  fading  glories  of  Elizabeth's  court,  and  turned 
his  back  on  '  England  and  yesterday.' 

And  yet  in  after  years  it  is  not  from  Boyle  that  we  hear 
of  Elizabeth's  suspicions  or  caprices  ;  his  memory  only  counted 
over  the  times  she  had  given  him  her  gracious  hand  to  kiss 
and  called  him  by  his  name,  or  dwelt  on  the  glorious  day 
when  she  swore  to  his  disconcerted  enemies  that  she  found 
him  very  fitting  for  her  service. 

In  Munster  Carew  welcomed  Boyle  with  joy  and  bade  him 
ride  with  him  on  his  parting  journey  to  Dublin,  that,  having 
provided  his  young  friend  with  an  estate,  he  might  proceed  to 
find  him  a  wife.  Boyle  describes  very  quaintly  how  Carew 
*  dealt  mighty  noble  and  father  like  with  me,  persuading  me 
that  it  was  high  time  for  me  to  take  a  wife,  in  the  hope  of 
posterity  to  inherit  my  lands,  advising  me  to  make  choice  of 
Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton's  daughter,  and  that  (if)  I  could  affect  her, 
he  would  treat  with  her  parents  to  have  the  match  between  us.' 

1  See  Care^w  MSS.  \.  452,  and  True  Remembrances. 


Yv/  ////•////     • 


'PACATA   HIBERNIA'  33 

Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton  was,  as  we  have  seen,  the  man  above 
all  others  fitted  to  be  a  counsellor  to  Boyle  in  the  new  position 
he  had  won  in  Munster,  and  in  England  also  he  could  exercise 
some  influence,  for  he  belonged  to  the  Fentons  of  Fenton, 
in  Nottinghamshire,  and  his  mother  was  a  Beaumont  of 
Coleorton  ;  while  through  his  wife,  Alice  Weston,  he  was 
connected  with  the  powerful  Lord  Treasurer  of  England,  who 
later  rose  to  be  Earl  of  Portland. 

Before  Carew  sailed  for  England  he  saw  Richard  Boyle 
contracted  to  Katherine  Fenton  on  the  9th  of  March   1603. 
Four  months  later  the  young  people  were  married,  and  the 
Lord  Deputy  knighted  the  bridegroom  on  his  wedding  day 
at  St.  Mary's  Abbey.     Boyle  himself  records  : — 

'The  25th  of  July  I  was  married  to  my  second  wife, 
Katherine  Fenton,  the  only  daughter  of  Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton, 
principal  Secretary  of  State  and  Privy  Councillor  in  Ireland, 
with  whom  I  neither  demanded  any  marriage  portion,  neither 
had  promise  of  any,  it  not  being  in  my  consideration  ;  yet  her 
father,  after  my  marriage,  gave  me  one  thousand  pounds  in 
gold  with  her.  But  that  gift  of  his  daughter  unto  me  I  must 
ever  thankfully  acknowledge  to  Almighty  God  as  the  crown 
of  all  his  manifold  blessings,  for  she  was  a  most  religious, 
virtuous,  loving  and  obedient  wife  unto  me  all  the  days  of  her 
life,  and  the  happy  mother  of  all  my  hopeful  children,  who 
with  their  posterity  I  beseech  God  to  bless.' 

In  after  years  Lady  Clancarty  told  a  pretty  story  of  her 
grandfather  Richard  Boyle's  first  meeting  with  his  future  wife. 
How  Mr.  Boyle,  *  coming  to  advise  with  Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton 
and  finding  him  engaged  with  another  client,  and  seeing  a 
pretty  child  in  her  nurse's  arms,  entertained  himself  with  them 
till  Sir  Geoffrey  came  to  him,  making  his  excuse  for  making 
him  wait  so  long.  Mr.  Boyle  pleasantly  told  him  he  had 


34      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF    CORK 

been  courting  a  young  lady  for  his  wife.  And  so  it  fortuned 
that  sixteen  years  after  it,  Mr.  Boyle  made  his  addresses  in 
good  earnest  to  her  and  married  the  young  lady.' l 

The  story  is  none  the  less  probable  for  being  romantic. 
It  was  however  but  fifteen  years  from  Boyle's  landing  in 
Ireland  to  his  marriage,  yet  that  was  long  enough  to  let  the 
pretty  child  grow  into  a  young  woman,  and  long  enough  also 
to  change  a  certain  penniless  Mr.  Boyle  into  Sir  Richard  and 
a  Munster  landowner. 

For  all  Carew's  proud  boast  that  he  had  pacified  Ireland, 
life  in  Munster  was  seldom  so  peaceful  as  to  be  monotonous. 
Scarcely  had  Boyle  returned  to  Cork  after  his  betrothal  than 
a  messenger  came  riding  south  in  all  haste  from  the  Lord 
Deputy  to  bring  the  news  of  Queen  Elizabeth's  death,  and  to 
proclaim  the  accession  of  King  James. 

Although  the  Clerk  to  the  Council  of  Munster  had  not 
yet  begun  to  keep  a  formal  diary,  he  wrote  a  humorous  little 
sketch  of  the  opera  comique  proceedings  that  ensued.2  For 
the  Mayor  of  Cork  stoutly  refused  to  proclaim  the  new  king. 
Some  historians  suggest  that  this  outbreak  of  Cork  indepen- 
dence was  due  to  the  merchants'  irritation  at  the  debased 
money  forced  on  them  by  England,  but  according  to  the 
Lismore  Papers  the  mayor  and  recorder  said  nothing  at  all 
about  base  coin,  but  a  great  deal  about  the  poverty  and 
absurdities  of  the  Scottish  king,  and  the  rights  of  the  Spanish 
Infanta  to  the  crown,  and  *  delivered  many  decidedly  rebellious 
speeches,'  to  which  Mr.  Boyle  replied  '  he  marvelled  they 
should  break  out  in  such  a  passion,'  and  Recorder  Mead 
retorted  that  whether  he  himself  broke  out  or  not,  many 
thousand  men  were  ready  to  do  it.  So  when  the  Commis- 
sioners from  Dublin  assembled  at  the  High  Cross  with  drums 

1  Evelyn,  Diary,  iv.  412.  2  Lismore  Papers,  n.  i.  i. 


'PACATA   HIBERNIA'  35 

and  trumpets  to  proclaim  King  James,  they  waited  in  vain  for 
the  City  Fathers,  who  at  last  sent  a  message  that  they  had  no 
fancy  for  such  haste  in  proclaiming  the  King  of  Scots ;  they 
knew  well  the  very  stage-players  in  England  jeered  at  him 
for  being  the  poorest  prince  in  Christendom,  and  Cork  had 
once  before  proclaimed  a  stranger,  Perkin  Warbeck,  King  of 
England,  and  gained  little  by  such  precipitation  !  And  these 
were  no  idle  words  :  the  citizens  flew  to  arms,  while  the  mayor 
endeavoured  to  seize  the  forts  that  commanded  the  town. 
The  Commissioners  could  but  send  off  for  help  to  the  Lord 
Deputy  and  Wilmot  the  commander  of  the  English  army  in 
Munster,  and  proclaim  the  King  as  best  they  might  from  a 
hill  outside  the  city  ;  while  inside  the  mob  burned  the  Ten 
Commandments  and  English  Prayer  Books  out  of  the  cathedral, 
and  carried  a  crucifix  in  solemn  procession  through  the  streets. 
Then,  having  had  their  little  holiday,  and  the  Lord  Deputy's 
army  drawing  near,  '  the  mayor,'  writes  Boyle  in  his  report, 
'  cast  about  to  make  his  peace,'  and  sent  a  formal  complaint 
that  Sir  Charles  Wilmot  had  endeavoured  to  surprise  the  city 
and  *  banish  the  crown  of  England,'  and  entreating  as  a  loyal 
subject  for  help  against  the  English  general's  treasonable 
designs  !  The  audacity  of  the  message  seems  to  have  tickled 
the  Deputy,  and  finding,  Boyle  says,  '  that  Limerick  and 
Clonmell  did  not  run  into  such  joyous  ways  as  Cork,'  the 
authorities  were  content  with  hanging  a  few  of  the  noisiest 
rioters  and  imprisoning  Recorder  Mead,  who  being  then  tried 
by  an  Irish  jury,  was  pronounced  innocent,  and  retired  to  Italy 
to  live  comfortably  on  a  pension  from  the  King  of  Spain, 
while  the  clerk  to  the  council  rode  off  to  Dublin  to  his 
wedding,  doubtless  murmuring,  like  Browning's  legate,  '  I  have 
known  four-and-twenty  leaders  of  revolt.' 


CHAPTER     III 
A   NEW   MUNSTER 

The  small  property  has  a  tendency  to  fall  into  the  great  one,  as  the  small 
drop  of  water,  as  it  runs  down  the  pane  of  a  carriage  window,  always  joins  the 
larger. — SCOTT. 

WHEN  Carew  wrote  that  Ireland  was  pacified,  he  meant  that 
the  old  Munster,  with  its  forests  and  bogs,  its  fairies  and 
saints,  its  wandering  harpers  and  semi- regal  chieftains,  was  to 
be  swept  away,  and  a  clean,  prosperous,  commonplace  province 
was  to  emerge,  new  created  by  English  hands.  This  was  the 
intention  of  the  conquerors,  but  something,  call  it  fate  or 
romance  or  the  genius  of  Ireland,  was  too  strong  for  them ; 
it  was  not  Munster  that  changed,  but  the  English  settlers 
who  changed,  and  became,  the  most  of  them,  Hibernis  ipsis 
Hiberniores,  more  Irish  than  the  Irish. 

However,  with  the  cessation  of  war,  forests  were  cleared, 
towns  were  built,  new  industries  sprang  up,  and  trade  flowed  in 
at  new  seaports,  while  Boyle's  estates  grew  round  the  nucleus 
of  Ralegh's  three  seignories,  till  they  reached  from  Dungarvon 
on  St.  George's  Channel  to  Dingle  on  the  Atlantic.  The 
Munster  gentry,  impoverished  by  war,  by  confiscations,  by 
hospitality  and  the  *  Castle  Rackrent '  style  of  living,  which 
was  as  common  then  as  two  centuries  later,  were,  alas  !  only 
too  ready  to  sell,  and  Boyle  was  always  ready  to  buy.  Equally 
anxious  to  sell  were  the  English  settlers  who  had  been  tempted 
over  to  people  the  desolated  country,  and  grew  weary  of 


3-5 


A   NEW    MUNSTER  37 

waiting  while  the  land  commissioners  discussed  the  validity  of 
titles  and  the  dimensions  of  grants,  and  were  often  thankful 
to  fly  back  to  England  before  starvation  came  upon  them. 
Court  gentlemen,  such  as  Ralegh  and  Grenville,  who  had 
dreamt  of  dwelling  in  feudal  state  among  their  English  settlers, 
had  pleasanter  business  on  hand  in  England  than  the  drudgery 
of  reclaiming  the  wilderness,  and  were  ready  to  dispose  of 
their  land  grants  to  the  first  bidder.  When  Boyle  could  not 
buy  land  outright,  he  was  ready  to  acquire  leases  or  mortgages  ; 
any  expedient  was  welcome  that  would  enable  him  to  fill  up 
the  gaps  in  the  circle  of  his  estates. 

It  has  been  the  fashion  among  writers  on  Ireland  to  imply 
that  Boyle  spirited  away  the  lands  of  his  neighbours  by  some 
mysterious  sort  of  double-dealing,  but  if  they  had  taken  the 
trouble  to  look  at  Boyle's  own  records,  they  would  have 
discovered  that  no  conjuring  tricks  were  necessary  to  bring 
land  into  the  market  when  it  was  mortgaged  three  or  four 
deep,  and  that  estates  were  hardly  likely  to  command  a  high 
price  when  the  title-deeds  were  either  missing,  or  strongly 
suspected  of  being  forged.1 

The  most  important  purchase  of  land  that  Boyle  ever 
made  was  the  property  he  bought  from  Ralegh.  These 
estates  had  involved  their  first  owner  in  a  clean  loss  of  two 
hundred  pounds  a  year,  and  it  was  obvious  that  matters  could 
not  mend  while  Ralegh  lived  in  England,  and  left  his  Irish 
speculations  to  be  carried  out  by  agents.  His  brilliant  and 
restless  intellect  could  devise  schemes  enough  to  enrich  fifty 
Boyles,  but  he  sickened  of  the  drudgery  necessary  to  realise 
his  own  plans.  The  chance  of  finding  wealth  beyond  the 
dreams  of  avarice  doubtless  lay  in  Munster,  as  Dr.  Johnson 
said  it  lay  in  Thrale's  brewery,  but  the  fortune  could  be  only 

1  For  details  of  land  purchases,  see  Appendix. 


38      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

found  if  it  was  sought.  Boyle  indeed  bought  the  land  from 
Ralegh,  but  to  the  land  he  brought  his  own  far-seeing  designs, 
plodding  business  habits,  wise  expenditure,  and  careful  thrift, 
and  he  became  a  millionaire  by  as  inevitable  a  law  as  that 
water  rises  to  its  own  level. 

He  signed  the  agreement  with  Ralegh  on  the  yth  of 
December  1602,  covenanting  to  pay  the  purchase-money  in 
three  instalments,  the  first  £500  at  once,  ^500  at  Michaelmas 
1603,  and  the  last  payment  at  Easter  i6o4.a 

But  before  the  second  payment  was  made  Elizabeth  was 
dead  and  Ralegh's  star  had  set.  His  estates  were  declared 
forfeited,  and  as  Boyle's  purchase  was  only  partly  concluded, 
it  was  not  at  all  clear  who  was  at  the  time  the  actual  owner  of 
the  property.  Naturally,  when  there  was  any  doubt,  the 
Crown  would  not  lose  the  chance  of  making  money,  and  the 
king  laid  claim  to  the  thousand  pounds  still  due. 

But  Boyle  was  not  inclined  to  leave  Ralegh  in  the  lurch 
and  pay  his  thousand  pounds  to  the  King,  for  him  to  grant 
'  to  some  Scotchman,'  as  Ralegh  bitterly  put  it.  Sir  John 
Ramsey,  afterwards  Earl  of  Holder  ness,  offered  to  procure  a 
full  discharge  of  the  debt  for  five  hundred  marks  down,  but 
Boyle,  by  going  himself  to  London  and  spending  £200, 
whether  in  fees  or  in  bribes,  succeeded  in  gaining  permission 
to  pay  the  money  to  Ralegh,  which  he  said  he  gave  to  the 
prisoner  '  in  his  greatest  extremity,  at  one  entire  payment, 
before  it  was  due.'  In  addition  to  the  £200  expended  in 
London,  Boyle  said  afterwards  that  he  had  to  disburse  ^3700 
to  clear  entangled  titles  which  Sir  Walter,  before  selling  the 
estates,  had  bound  himself  to  do  for  the  purchaser.2 

1  Hayman's  Guide  to  Toug/ial;  Care^w  MSS.,  i.  452. 

2  Boyle  to  St.  John;  L.  P.,  ii.  z.  158-60.     Boyle  to  Carew  Raleigh;  Smith,  i.  85. 
Cal.  S.  P.  Ire.,  p.  175.      See  also  King  James's  patent  for  all  the  Ralegh  lands  in 
Ireland,  dated  1604,  May  10,  now  at  Lismore. 


A    NEW    MONSTER  39 

By  extraordinary  good  fortune,  this  first  property  which 
Boyle  bought  in  Munster  was  the  easiest  of  development. 
Ralegh's  grants  lay  where  the  river  Blackwater  opened  a  way 
from  the  fertile  inland  country  to  the  harbour  of  Youghal, 
the  seaport  of  Munster  that  lay  nearest  to  England.  In  the 
pleasant  town  of  Youghal  Ralegh  had  lived  whenever  he 
visited  his  Irish  estates,  renting  a  pretty  house  in  whose  garden 
is  still  shown  the  arbour  where  he  smoked  the  first  tobacco 
brought  into  Ireland. 

Before  the  days  of  Ralegh  this  house  had  been  occupied 
by  the  Warden  of  the  College  of  Youghal.  The  College 
was  not  a  place  of  education,  but  had  been  founded,  like 
the  collegiate  churches  that  are  still  found  in  England, 
to  provide  a  body  of  clergy  to  officiate  in  the  churches  of 
the  neighbourhood,  the  Warden,  eight  fellows  and  eight 
choirmen  serving  eight  churches,  and  the  College  exercising 
large  Church  patronage  and  enjoying  a  good  revenue.  It 
is  necessary  to  know  something  of  the  history  of  the 
College,  for  it  afterwards  came  into  Boyle's  hands,  and 
brought  him  more  trouble  than  any  other  possession  he  ever 
acquired. 

When  other  religious  houses  were  being  dissolved  in  the 
year  1597,  the  Warden  of  Youghal  considered  what  he  could 
do  to  save  at  least  some  part  of  his  livelihood,  and  is  said  to 
have  endeavoured  to  make  friends  for  himself  after  the  fashion 
of  the  unjust  steward  in  the  parable.  He  gave  a  long  lease  of 
the  College  and  its  lands  to  the  Vice-President  of  Munster,  in 
return  for  an  annuity  to  himself  and  the  fellows.  He  seems, 
however,  to  have  made  a  very  bad  bargain,  for  the  stipend 
granted  was  only  £6,  133.  4d.  apiece!  The  pittance  is  so 
small,  that  either  Warden  Baxter  must  have  received  a  private 
present  to  make  the  bargain  worth  his  while,  or  the  boasted 


40     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

wealth  of  the  College  must  have  been  lost  during  the  war  that 
had  just  ended. 

After  the  vice-president,  Sir  Thomas  Norris,  died,  the 
College  buildings  in  Youghal  passed  into  Ralegh's  hands,  and 
the  Church  patronage  was  granted  by  the  Crown  to  Sir  George 
Carew.1  Boyle  when  he  succeeded  Ralegh  bought  the  advow- 
sons  from  Carew,  and  in  1607  succeeded  in  recovering  the 
College  tithes,  which  he  applied  to  pay  the  salaries  of  the 
masters  of  the  free  school  he  was  building  in  Youghal. 

The  Warden's  house  was  too  small  for  Boyle's  hospitable 
housekeeping,  and  he  decided  to  make  his  home  in  the  ruined 
college,  and  although  for  many  years  he  was  only  a  leasehold 
tenant,  he  restored  and  rebuilt  till  he  had  converted  the  wreck 
into  a  mansion  worthy  of  a  Munster  magnate. 

His  prudent  father-in-law,  Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton,  advised 
him  to  take  counsel's  opinion  as  to  the  real  owner  of  the 
College  before  he  spent  £2000  on  restoring  it.  He  was  told 
that  although  the  earliest  lease  granted  by  Warden  Baxter  to 
Norris  was  probably  sufficient,  it  would  be  no  harm  for  him 
to  get  a  new  lease  from  the  existing  representative  of  the 
College,  and  in  1605  the  Warden  and  fellows  very  readily 
signed  a  new  lease,  relinquishing  their  rights  to  live  in  a  ruin 
and  serve  a  dilapidated  church,  for  an  annuity  of  £20  to  the 
Warden  and  £10  each  to  the  fellows. 

But  a  few  years  later,  Boyle  tells  us  in  his  diary,  the 
Warden  admitted  sundry  '  turbulent  and  contentious  men ' 
to  be  fellows  of  his  nominal  College,  who  neither  resided  in 
Youghal  nor  did  any  duty  there,  and  they  disclaimed  the 
agreement  ;  on  which  Boyle,  who  knew  very  well  what  a  Jaw- 

1  Smith,  Hist.  Co.  Cork,\.  56.  Patent  to  Carew,  dated  Jan.  9,  1603.  Boyle's  patent, 
1604.  At  which  time  Sir  James  Fullarton  laid  claim  to  the  College  as  included  in 
a  grant  to  him  of  Church  lands,  but  Boyle  bought  him  off. 


A   NEW    MUNSTER  41 

suit  meant  and  always  compromised  a  claim  when  he  could, 
contented  them  by  doubling  their  stipends  and  obtained  new 
Letters  Patent  from  the  King.1 

But  all  this  time  he  was  busy  building.  Two  stately 
quadrangles  rose  out  of  the  ruins,  one  of  them  adorned  by  a 
fountain.  Behind  the  College,  the  hill  that  sheltered  it  from 
the  western  gales  was  terraced  into  gardens  '  extream  pleasant,' 
with  steps  leading  up  by  a  pergola  roofed  with  lead  to  a 
mossy  well  and  a  path  running  at  the  foot  of  the  town  wall 
that  is  still  called  the  Earl's  Walk.  From  it  he  could  look 
down  over  the  College  courts,  the  spires  and  houses  of  the 
town,  and  the  long  strand  of  Youghal,  away  to  the  estuary, 
and  watch  his  ships  sailing  in  from  the  open  sea  beyond. 

He  did  not  spend  all  his  thoughts  on  his  own  house :  the 
splendid  church  of  Youghal  was  well-nigh  as  dilapidated  as 
the  College,  and  he  at  once  set  to  repairing  it.  The  south 
chapel,  known  as  the  Chantry  of  our  Blessed  Saviour,  belonged 
to  the  mayor  and  corporation  of  Youghal,  and  in  1 606  Boyle 
purchased  it  from  them  to  make  it  into  a  mortuary  chapel  for 
his  family.  The  tomb  he  set  up  in  it  was  not  finished  till  the 
year  1619.  It  stands  yet,  splendid  in  many  coloured  marbles, 
supporting  four  life-sized  portrait  effigies,  as  well  as  small 
figures  representing  Boyle's  children.  Boyle  is  represented  in 
a  complete  suit  of  richly  ornamented  armour,  coloured  in  gold 
and  russet,  an  earl's  mantle  of  state  hangs  over  his  shoulders, 
and  in  his  hand  he  holds  the  purse  of  the  Treasury  of  Ireland. 
At  his  feet  kneels  his  first  wife  Joan  Appsley,  dressed  in  a 
richly  brocaded  purple  gown  ;  at  his  head  kneels  Katherine 
Fenton,  his  second  wife,  in  the  state  robes  of  a  countess. 
Over  each  lady  is  an  escutcheon  of  white  marble  impaling  the 
Boyle  arms,  party  per  bend  crenelle  argent  and  gules,  with, 

1   1610.     Haym  an's  Youghal. 


42      LIFE    OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

for  Appsley,  barry  of  six  argent  and  gules  with  a  canton 
ermine  in  dexter  corner,  and  for  Fenton,  argent  a  cross  azure 
between  four  fleurs-de-lis  sable.1  At  the  top  of  the  tomb  lies 
the  statue  of  Lady  Fenton,  in  the  rufF  of  Elizabethan  days 
and  a  large  straw  hat. 

The  monument  records  the  names  of  the  seven  younger 
children  of  the  Earl  of  Cork,  the  names  and  arms  of  his 
sons-in-law,  of  his  brother,  Bishop  John  Boyle  of  Cork,  and 
his  sisters,  Elizabeth  Smyth  and  Mary  Power. 

When  Boyle  restored  the  Chantry  at  Youghal,  he  was 
careful  also  to  restore  the  tomb  of  the  first  builders  of  the 
aisle  and  add  the  inscription — 

HERE  LIETH  ANCIENTLY  ENTERRED  THE  BODDIES  OF  RICHARD 
BENNET  AND  ELLIS  BARRY  HIS  WYFE  THE  FIRST  FOUNDERS  OF 
THIS  CHAPEL  WHICH  BEING  DEMOLISHED  IN  TIME  OF  REBELLIO 
AND  THEIR  TOMBE  DEFACED  WAS  REEDEFIED  BY  RICHARD 
LORD  BOYLE  BARRON  OF  YOUGHALL  WHO  FOR  REVIVINGE  THE 
MEMORY  OF  THEM  REPAIRED  THEIR  TOMBE  AND  HAD  THESE  THEIR 
PICTVRES  CVT  IN  STONE  PLACED  THEREON  IN  ANO  DNI.  1619. 

Leaving  Youghal,  we  must  travel  up  the  Blackwater  to 
reach  the  place  which  Boyle  chose  to  be  his  stateliest  home 
in  Munster.  At  Lismore  the  rude  buildings  of  a  primitive 
university  had  once  clustered  round  the  missionary  church  of 
St.  Carthagh.  The  Danes,  the  wild  Irish  chieftains,  and 
Norman  barons  had  plundered  and  burnt  Lismore  again 
and  again,  and  finally,  in  the  days  of  the  Desmonds  the  war 
had  left  the  castle  and  cathedral  mere  heaps  of  ruins,  and  so 
they  remained  till  they  were  purchased  by  Boyle  from  Ralegh.2 
Then  the  castle  and  its  chapel  were  rebuilt,  and  plans  made 
for  restoring  the  cathedral  and  building  a  free  school  with 
lodgings  for  schoolmaster  and  usher,  and  almshouses  for  old 

1  Hayman's  Youghal. 

2  See  Pardon  of  Intrusion  to  Sir  R.  Boyle,  dated  March  1607. 


A    NEW    MUNSTER  43 

decayed  soldiers.  In  1638  Boyle  mentions  paying  the 
quarter's  stipend  to  his  Lismore  almsmen  and  ordering 
frieze  gowns  for  them  all,  and  for  three  poor  widows,  besides 
paying  the  schoolmaster's  salary.  But  the  sorrows  and 
anxieties  that  came  upon  him  in  those  years  appear  to  have 
delayed  the  building  work,  as  in  his  last  will,  when  he 
insured  the  endowment  of  the  charities,  he  says  the  materials 
for  the  almshouses  were  collected,  but  only  the  foundations 
laid. 

Lismore  Cathedral,  like  the  College  of  Youghal,  had  once 
owned  the  patronage  of  many  surrounding  vicarages,  but  the 
war  that  had  destroyed  the  cathedral  had  left  most  of  the 
churches  in  ruins,  and  the  visitation  of  1588  reported  that, 
among  others,  Tallow  had  neither  income  nor  vicar.  Boyle 
restored  the  church  of  Tallow,  and  had  it,  he  says,  '  galleried 
round,  which  church  I  intend  to  bestow  on  the  town,'  and  in 
1631  he  re-endowed  it  as  a  vicarage,  at  the  same  time  as 
three  other  neighbouring  curacies  which  had  also  lost  their 
property  during  the  wars. 

The  ruined  town  of  Tallow  had  also  to  be  rebuilt,  and 
Carrigaline,  on  Cork  Harbour,  was  greatly  enlarged,  but  the 
new  towns,  of  which  Boyle  was  justly  proud,  were  all  built 
among  the  virgin  forests  of  the  west. 

When  Carew's  army  was  marching  against  the  western 
Irish,  he  found  that  '  a  garron  could  not  travel  through  those 
forests  at  more  than  six  miles  a  day,'  and  the  troops  had  to 
skirt  the  coast  to  find  open  ground  to  march  over.  Boyle  at 
once  saw  the  importance  of  the  ford  across  the  Bandon  River, 
half-way  between  Cork  and  Bantry,  and  he  bought  an  estate 
from  the  first  settler,  Captain  Nuce,  for  £500,  and  added 
other  lands  as  he  could  get  them,  and  laid  the  foundations  of 
his  best-loved  town  on  the  bright  salmon  stream,  and  built 


44     LIFE   OF   THE    GREAT   EARL   OF    CORK 

the  famous  Bandon  Bridge  with  its  six  arches  and  quaint 
wooden  balustrade.1 

In  after  years  Boyle  wrote  to  Secretary  Coke  with  pride 
and  a  little  pardonable  exaggeration,  as  if  he  had  been  the 
earliest  settler  in  those  woodland  glades.  *  All  that  are  judicial 
and  have  carefully  viewed  both  and  compared  every  part  of 
them  together  do  confidently  affirm  that  the  circuit  of  my  new 
town  of  Bandon  is  more  in  compass  than  that  of  Londonderry, 
that  my  walls  are  stronger,  thicker,  and  higher  than  theirs, 
only  they  have  a  strong  rampier  within,  that  Bandon  Bridge 
wanteth.2  ...  In  my  town  there  is  built  a  strong  bridge  over 
the  river,  two  large  session-houses,  two  market-houses,  with 
two  fair  churches,  which  churches  are  so  filled  every  Sabbath 
day  with  neat,  orderly,  religious  people  as  it  would  comfort  any 
good  heart  to  see  the  change  and  behold  such  assemblies.  No 
popish  recusant  or  unconforming  novellist  being  admitted  to 
live  in  all  the  town.'  The  'unconforming  novellist'  does  not 
mean  a  romance  writer,  but  a  member  of  one  of  the  new 
eccentric  sects  into  which  the  Puritans  were  splitting  up. 
Boyle's  letter  goes  on  :  '  The  place  where  Bandon  Bridge  is 
situated  is  upon  a  great  district  of  country  and  was  within  the 
last  twenty  years  a  mere  waste  bog  and  wood,  serving  as  a 
harbour  and  retreat  for  woodkerns,  rebels,  thieves  and  wolves, 
and  yet  now,  God  be  praised,  is  as  civil  a  plantation  as  most 
in  England.' 3 

Perhaps  her  inland  position  may  be  one  reason  why  Bandon 
has  not  maintained  her  equality  with  her  northern  sister, 

1  See  Bennett's  BanJon,  p.  5;  also  Lismore  Papers,  ist  Series,  Nov.  1618,  May 
1619,  July  1624.,  June  1630-1,  for  purchases  from  Becher  and  Gookin. 

2  Parts  of  the  thirty-feet  high  town  wall  still  remain.     A  bastion  abuts  on  the 
river  and  another  portion  enclos-es  Ballymodan  Churchyard. — R.  Day  in  Cork  Arch. 
Journ.,  1902. 

3  Smith,  i.  215. 


A    NEW    MUNSTER  45 

Londonderry,  but  for  a  while  she  held  her  own  bravely,  and 
her  linen  manufactures  and  her  bellicose  Protestantism  were 
quite  equal  to  those  of  the  Londoner's  settlement.  Bandon 
men  are  said  in  a  local  legend  to  have  carried  their  objection 
to  Popish  Recusants  so  far  as  to  write  up  on  their  town  gate 

1  Jew,  Turk  or  Atheist 
May  enter  here,  but  not  a  papist.' 

One  morning  a  grim  and  apt  rejoinder  was  found  under  the 
Protestant  inscription — 

*  Whoever  wrote  this  wrote  it  well, 
The  same  is  written  on  the  gates  of  hell.' 

Even  Bandon  men  could  not  get  the  better  of  their  Celtic 
neighbours  when  the  war  was  one  of  wits. 

When  Boyle  passed  to  westward  of  Bandon,  and  built 
Clonakilty,  he  hoped  it  might  become  the  capital  and  seaport 
of  that  part  of  County  Cork,  and  it  was  incorporated  so  early 
as  1613  under  a  mayor  or  sovereign  and  a  recorder.  Boyle 
built  a  large  church  for  the  town,  and  its  linen  trade  made  it 
more  or  less  of  a  commercial  centre,  but  it  never  justified  its 
founder's  expectations.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
fortified,  and  Boyle's  interest  and  pride  in  it  never  equalled 
his  feeling  for  Bandon.  One  of  the  solitary  mentions  of  the 
town  in  the  Diary  is  in  1620,  when  Boyle  wrote  :  'This  day 
I  perfected  my  deed  to  Humphry  Jobson,  his  wife  Margaret 
and  William  Jobson  their  cursed  son,  of  the  town  and  plough 
lands  of  Clonakilty  for  their  three  lives,  reserving  to  me  certain 
lands  and  tenements  after  twelve  years  are  expired.' 

Enniskeane,  and  Castletown  Kinneagh,  away  inland  among 
the  mountains  near  the  source  of  the  Bandon  river,  are  now 
mere  villages,  but  no  doubt  at  the  time  when  Boyle  founded 


46     LIFE    OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

them  he  proposed  that  the  triangle  of  English  settlements, 
Enniskeane,  Castletown,  and  Bandon,  should  act  as  a  line  of 
defence  against  that  wild  western  country,  where  the  peasants 
still  point  to  the  narrow  chasm  of  the  Leap  River  and  say  : 
'  Beyond  the  Leap,  beyond  the  law.' 


CHAPTER    IV 

A    FAMILY    PARTY 
1603 — 1632 

...  his  mother 

Watches  his  steps  with  the  eyes  of  the  gods ;  and  his  wife  and  his  children 
Move  him  to  plan  and  to  do  in  the  farm  and  the  camp  and  the  country. 

KINGSLEY,  Andromeda. 

SIR  RICHARD  BOYLE  and  his  bride  made  their  first  home  at 
Youghal,  and  set  about  rebuilding  the  ruined  college  house 
and  transforming  it  into  a  mansion  worthy  of  the  ambitions 
which  were  taking  shape  in  Boyle's  dreams. 

Sir  Richard's  diary  chronicles  the  purchase  of  fine  furniture 
for  the  great  house  :  a  piece  of  tapestry  for  the  long  chamber 
cost  ^55  ;  one  bedstead  was  green  and  gold,  another  was 
parcel  gilt  with  a  quilt  and  curtains  of  tawny  taffety,  another 
bed  was  blue,  and  yet  another  had  valances  of  black  velvet. 
But  there  was  thrift  with  all  this  grandeur,  and  Sir  Richard 
gave  '  the  outside  of  a  skarlett  gown  to  make  a  counterpane 
suitable  to  my  skarlett  bedd.' 

Sir  Richard  and  Lady  Boyle's  own  appearance  must  have 
been  quite  as  gorgeous  as  that  of  their  house  :  the  list  of 
splendid  clothes  sent  over  by  Mr.  Dobson,  the  London  tailor, 
in  1604  and  1607  fairly  dazzles  the  imagination. 

'  His  worship '  had  a  doublet  and  Gascony  hose  of  satin  at 
145.  6d.  a  yard,  well  stiffened  out  with  canvas  and  lined  with 
murray-coloured  *  tafeta  sarsenet.'  Sir  Richard's  tastes  were, 


48      LIFE   OF   THE    GREAT   EARL   OF    CORK 

however,  more  rich  than  gaudy,  and  his  cloak,  although 
trimmed  with  silver  fringe  and  buttons,  was  only  marble 
coloured,  lined  with  russet. 

It  was  my  lady  who  had  many  bright-coloured  dresses.  Mr. 
Dobson  sent  her  a  petticoat  made  of  seven  and  a  half  yards  of 
carnation  velvet  lined  with  four  and  a  half  yards  of  green  say, 
and  '  trimmed  round  seven  times  with  silver  lace  and  fringe.' 
This  amazing  garment  cost  ^"8,  us.  She  also  had  an  orange 
tawny  petticoat  trimmed  with  silver  lace  and  lined  with  green 
baize,  and  also  a  '  bodes  of  whitt  stitcht  taffita '  that  cost  a 
pound,  and  was  well  stiffened  with  ninepenny  worth  of  whale- 
bone. These  smart  clothes  were  packed  in  a  hamper,  and 
another  gown  in  a  trunk  that  was  charged  extra,  nine  shillings. 
We  can  hardly  believe  that  almost  three  hundred  years  have 
passed  since  those  trunks  arrived  when  we  read  the  tailor's 
letter.  We  all  know  that  tailor's  excuses  so  well.  '  I  under- 
stand/he  writes  in  1608,  'that  you  doe  mislyke  the  fashion 
of  the  sleeve,  but  I  do  assure  you  it  is  the  special  fashion  that 
men  of  your  sorte  do  wear.'  '  For  my  lady's  kirtle  sleeves 
and  stomacher  perhaps  shee  may  think  that  I  forgott  myself 
that  I  did  not  lace  the  kirtle  in  silk  and  have  lace  at  the  skirte 
as  well  as  I  did  the  bodeys  and  sleeves,  butt  I  did  it  because 
she  may  weare  that  kirtle  with  any  other  gowne  or  that  gowne 
with  any  other  kirtle. — My  wyfe  hathe  sent  my  lady  a  little 
fallinge  band  to  weare  with  her  standing  collar  under  her  ruffe 
band,  only  to  showe  her  the  fashion.' 

But  on  the  whole  Lady  Boyle  inclined  to  the  same  sober 
colours  as  suited  her  husband,  tawny,  murray-coloured,  and 
black.  One  '  new  years  guift '  that  he  gave  her  consisted  of 
a  '  murray-coloured  satin  petticoat  that  is  embroidered,  and  an 
apron,  that  cost  altogether  ^14.'  One  of  her  black  velvet 
gowns  was  given  to  her  by  a  tenant  as  a  fine  for  renewing  a 


A  FAMILY  PARTY  49 

lease.  Lady  Boyle  appears  to  have  had  her  own  purse,  and 
did  her  own  borrowing  and  lending  among  her  cousins, 
although  her  careful  husband  kept  the  accounts  for  her  in 
his  diary. 

Ready  as  Sir  Richard's  friends  were  to  oblige  him,  one  of 
them,  Mr.  Rowley,  rebelled  in  very  masculine  fashion  at  being 
asked  to  select  clothes  for  the  family.  His  letter  is  quite 
pathetic  in  his  vehemence.  '  I  have  sent  you  by  my  brother- 
in-law,  Mr.  William  Gilby,  all  such  things  as  you  desired  me 
to  buy  for  you  except  the  cloak,  which  sort  one  tells  me  is 
out  of  fashion  and  needless  here  or  in  Ireland,  all  of  which  I 
have  with  as  great  care  provided  as  if  they  had  been  for 
myself,  assuring  you  that  neither  for  myself  nor  any  other  I 
will  not  for  more  than  I  will  speak  it,  undergo  the  like  again  ! 
Because  they  be  full  of  trouble  and  things  for  the  most  part 
out  of  my  knowledge,  so  that  I  am  enforced  to  trust  them  who 
will  be  sure  to  deceive  the  wariest.  [Lady  Boyle]  in  her  last 
wrote  for  a  fan  which  I  will  shortly  send  her,  but  now  they 
are  not  to  be  gotten  at  any  rate  by  reason  of  my  L.  of 
Salisbury's  installation,  and  other  occasions.  The.  sum  these 
things  amount  to  is  £90  is.  4d.  My  brother  is  a  meer 
stranger  in  the  country,  and  has  come  to  dwell  at  Castle 
Haven  which  I  have  bought.  I  am  in  good  hope  to  draw  a 
good  store  of  merchants  to  Munster.' 

Among  the  English  merchants  who  were  encouraged  by 
Boyle  to  come  over  to  Munster  was  his  goldsmith  cousin, 
Barsie,  of  Plymouth.  But  Irish  goldsmiths  were  still  skilful 
with  the  deftness  and  artistic  feeling  handed  down  from  the 
prehistoric  days  of  the  Tara  Brooch,  and  the  gold  collars  of 
the  legendary  heroes  ;  Boyle  did  not  need  to  send  to  London 
for  his  wife's  jewellery,  but  writes  in  his  diary  that  '  I  delivered 
to  Mr.  Ross  to  be  made  into  a  Jewell  for  my  wife,  thirty  small 

D 


50     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF    CORK 

diamonds  and  twenty-eight  small  rubies,  which  were  set  in  a 
feather  of  gold,  and  at  that  time  I  delivered  him  thirty  Orient 
pearls  to  be  holed  and  six  Irish  pearls,  which  she  wears  in  a 
necklace.' 

There  was  no  lack  of  festivities  at  which  to  show  these 
brave  clothes  and  jewels ;  weddings  and  christenings  come 
thick  in  the  records.  Boyle's  English  cousins  soon  flocked 
over  to  share  his  rising  fortunes,  and  Lady  Fenton,  who  had 
been  twice  married,  brought  a  tribe  of  relations  to  swell  the 
family  circle.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Sir  Richard  Weston, 
Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland,  and  of  good  English  descent,  but 
her  first  marriage  was  with  Hugh  O'Grady,  Bishop  of  Meath, 
'  a  very  honest  zealous  man,'  Sir  Henry  Sidney  called  him,  and 
a  member  of  an  old  Irish  family.  By  her  second  marriage  Lady 
Fenton  had  but  one  son,  William  Fenton,  who  was  much 
younger  than  Boyle,  and  seems  to  have  always  looked  up  to 
his  brother-in-law  with  affectionate  deference.  He  married  an 
Irish  heiress,  Margrett  '  neen '  Morris  Gibbon,1  who  was  a 
ward  of  the  Earl  of  Thomond.  William  Fenton  bought  the 
wardship  of  his  bride  for  £1000,  selling  his  manor  of  Clontarf 
and  his  house  in  Dublin  to  Boyle  to  raise  the  money,  and  was 
married  at  the  College  of  Youghal  in  1614  by  Mr.  Sneswell, 
the  preacher. 

Old  Lady  Fenton  was  to  Boyle  the  most  delightful 
mother-in-law  possible,  and  took  him  to  her  heart  as  though 
he  had  indeed  been  her  son.  After  Sir  Geoffrey's  death,  she 
made  her  home  in  Munster,  adoring  her  grandchildren,  riding 
on  visits  with  her  daughter,  helping  Sir  Richard  to  arrange 
his  furniture,  and  laying  wagers  with  him  over  his  new  apple- 
trees,  till  she  died  full  of  years  and  honour  in  1632.  She  was 

1  '  Neen  '  was  the  feminine  mark  of  descent  in  Ireland.     A  son  would  have  been 
Mac  or  O'Gibbon,  unless  the  Norman  form  of  Fitzgibbon  was  adopted. 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  51 

buried  in  Youghal  church,  where  her  effigy  in  a  large  hat 
crowns  the  imposing  structure  that  Boyle  erected  over  his 
family  vault. 

A  son  and  heir  was  born  to  Sir  Richard  Boyle  in  the 
College  House  on  the  first  of  August  1606,  and  was  christened 
Roger,  in  memory  of  the  Boyle  grandfather  who  died  long 
years  before  in  Kent.  His  godparents  were  his  father's  old 
companion  in  arms,  Sir  Allen  Apsley,  his  uncle  Sir  Thomas 
Browne,  and  his  grandmother  Lady  Fenton. 

The  following  year  a  sister  came  to  keep  him  company, 
and  on  Palm  Sunday  was  named  Alice  after  her  grandmother. 
In  all,  Boyle  was  the  proud  father  of  seven  sons  and  eight 
daughters,  of  whom  almost  all  lived  to  grow  up.  It  may  be 
more  convenient  to  give  a  list  of  them  together. 

Roger,  born  1606.     Died  1616. 

Alice,  born  1607.  Married  David,  ist  Earl  of  Barry- 
more.  Died  1668. 

Sarah,  born  1609.  Married  first  Sir  Thomas  Moore, 
secondly  Robert,  Baron  Digby  of  Geashill.  Died  1633. 

Letitia  or  Lettice,  born  1610.  Married  George  Goring. 
Died  1642. 

Joan,  born  1611.     Married  George,  i6th  Earl  of  Kildare. 

Richard,  2nd  Earl  of  Cork,  ist  Earl  of  Burlington,  known 
during  his  father's  life  as  Viscount  Dungarvon,  born 
1612.  Married  Elizabeth,  eldest  of  the  two  daughters 
and  co-heirs  of  Henry,  Lord  Clifford,  Earl  of  Cumber- 
land. Died  January  15,  1678. 

Katherine,  born  1614.  Married  Arthur  Jones,  afterwards 
Viscount  Ranelagh.  Died  1691. 

Dorothy,  born  1617.  Married  first  Sir  Arthur  Loftus, 
secondly  Mr.  Talbot.  Died  1668. 


52      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Lewis,  Viscount  Kinalmeaky,  born  1619.  Married 
Elizabeth  Fielding,  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Denbigh. 
Killed  at  the  battle  of  Liscarrol  1642. 

Roger,  Baron  Broghill,  afterwards  Earl  of  Orrery,  born 
1621.  Married  Margaret  Howard,  third  daughter  of 
the  Earl  of  Suffolk.  Died  1679. 

Francis,  afterwards  Earl  of  Shannon,  born  1623.  Married 
Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir  R.  Killigrew,  Vice-Chamber- 
lain to  Queen  Henrietta  Maria. 

Mary,  born  1624.  Married  Charles  Rich,  afterwards 
Earl  of  Warwick.  Died  1678. 

Robert,  born  1627.     Died  1691. 

Also  Geoffrey  and  Margaret,  died  infants. 

In  recording  the  birth  of  his  children,  Sir  Richard  was 
always  careful  to  note  under  what  planet  their  lives  began,  and 
the  exact  hour  of  the  twenty-four.  Horoscopes  and  nativities 
were  calculated  with  care  in  those  times — it  would  be  interest- 
ing to  know  if  any  of  the  astrologers  chanced  to  prophesy 
truth  concerning  the  varied  careers  of  Boyle's  children. 

After  giving  the  full  list  of  his  sons  and  daughters  in  his 
True  Remembrances,  Boyle  concludes  : — 

'The  Great  God  of  Heaven  I  do  humbly  and  heartily 
beseech  to  bless  all  these  my  children,  whom  he  hath  in  his 
mercy  so  generously  bestowed  upon  me,  with  long  and 
religious  lives,  and  that  they  may  be  fruitful  in  virtuous 
children  and  good  works,  and  continue  to  their  lives'  end  loyal 
and  dutiful  subjects  to  the  King's  Majesty  and  his  heirs,  and 
approve  themselves  good  patriots  and  members  of  his  common- 
wealth, which  is  the  prayer  and  charge  of  me  their  father  in 
the  67th  year  of  my  age,  1632.' 

In    1613   Sir   Richard    was    sworn    Privy   Councillor    for 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  53 

Ireland.     He  had  been  Privy  Councillor   for  Munster  since 
1606. 

He  had  now  plenty  to  occupy  him  both  in  Dublin  and 
Munster,  and  to  his  hurried  journeys  up  and  down  Ireland 
we  owe  the  few  letters  that  are  preserved  from  Lady  Boyle. 
Good  as  her  handwriting  was,  she  was  not  much  of  a  letter 
writer  and  had  her  little  jokes  about  the  bad  spelling  which 
shocked  her  accomplished  husband.  Yet  my  lady's  spelling  is 
no  worse  than  that  of  most  people  of  her  day,  and  a  great  deal 
better  than  that  of  her  lord  and  master  in  his  diary.  The 
little  letters  she  wrote  on  the  rare  occasions  when  they  were 
separated,  are  so  sweet  and  womanly,  that  we  must  almost 
regret  that  the  husband  and  wife  were  so  seldom  apart  that 
very  few  of  these  love-letters  were  written.  As  Lady  Boyle 
made  such  a  point  of  her  spelling,  it  would  be  ungracious  to 
modernise  it. 

LADY  BOYLE  TO  HER  HUSBAND,   1604. 

4  MY  OWNE  GOOD  SELF, — I  had  ouste  set  pen  to  my  paper 
to  writ  you  a  challinges  of  unkindnes  for  not  writing  unto  mee, 
but  when  I  remembered  the  foundatan  of  your  good  nature, 
from  which  all  kindness  doth  floue  unto  me,  I  withdrew  my 
hand,  and  do  contenneally  pray  that  my  desearves  maye  never 
be  any  cause  for  you  to  restren  your  wonted  loue  to  mee,  and 
will  by  God's  help  strive  as  much  aganct  any  thought  which 
may  hinder  the  meres  of  your  loue  tourward  mee  as  the 
strength  of  my  weake  capassiti  can  attane  unto.  It  doth  much 
glad  mee  to  heare  from  you,  but  I  protest  there  is  nothing  in 
the  world  that  would  more  reioys  mee  then  to  see  you.  And 
thearfore  good  sweet  heart,  for  the  time  that  I  am  depriued  of 
your  company  which  I  hope  will  be  but  shart,  let  me  heare  from 
you,  and  let  mee  know  sartynly  in  your  next  letter  when  you 


54     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

will  come  downe,  and  so  being  in  hast  I  rest  from  Dublin  the 
X.  of  April  your  assued  louing  wife,  Kathrn  Boyle.  I  sent  to 
Mr.  Leger  for  the  mony  and  he  brought  me  forti  ninepences, 
but  I  would  not  receve  them.  I  pray  you  commend  me 
to  my  sister  Smeeth  and  my  brother,  my  ungel  James, 
Mr.  Wally  and  his  wife,  my  cosen  Seggorson  [Seckerstone  ?], 
my  brother  William,  my  cosen  Richard  Boyle,  and  all  my 
friends.  I  pray  you  remember  my  cosen  Morgel  his 
money.' 

(Probably  the  ninepences  were  some  of  the  base  money 
which  was  to  be  recoined.  Carew  wrote  about  this  time  to  tell 
Boyle  that  silver  Horn  pennies  were  not  current  in  England.) 

LADY  BOYLE  TO  HER  HUSBAND,  1609,  Dublin,  March  18. 

'  MY  OWNE  GOOD  SELF, — I  know  it  will  much  amuce  you  to 
see  me  so  forword  in  writeing  for  you  weare  wount  to  impute 
my  slackenes  in  writting  for  a  gret  faute  unto  mee.  But 
becase  I  am  not  emploded  in  commonwelth  bisness  as  you  are 
which  I  will  axcept  for  a  excuse  although  I  thought  that  all 
the  bisness  in  the  world  would  not  have  made  you  to  forget 
your  poure  scab  I  have  '"ntten  these  fu  lines  as  my  aturneiese 
to  soliced  a  answore.  so  knoing  that  there  needes  no  matter  of 
seremony  betune  us  I  will  comprehend  all  in  this  owne  word 
that  I  loue  you,  for  which  thinge  I  hope  I  needs  not  to  make 
my  pen  the  mesinger  of  my  heart  to  assure  you  of  it,  and 
so  I  reste  and  will  remain  your  ever  loving  wife  Kathern 
Boyle. 

*  This  letter  was  of  my  owne  speling  and  threfore  I  pray 
you  all  the  imperfections  that  are  in  it  rather  wink  at  them 
then  loke  intoo.  My  cosen  Apsli  [Apsley]  hath  sent  me  a 
hogcet  of  whit  wine  which  wee  wil  drink  for  his  and  your 
sakes.  Sir  John  Douddol  was  heare  and  made  great  brages 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  55 

that  he  would  complain  of  you  for  sewing l  for  him,  and  pray 
you  to  remember  him,  for  my  father  hath  undertaken  to  get 
anything  of  my  Lord  debetui  [Deputy]  that  you  will  spi  out 
for  him  in  Mounster.  I  hope  you  will  bestow  Ardmour  upon 
him  for  his  good  servis.  I  pray  you  commend  me  to  all  my 
good  friends  in  Mounster/ 

This  letter  doubtless  refers  to  certain  Ralegh  lands  at 
Ardmore,  which  an  army  officer,  Sir  John  Dowdall,  held,  and 
refused  to  surrender.  But  the  stout  Sir  John  was  not  a  rich 
man  and  was  the  father  of  twenty-four  children,  so  Boyle  had 
only  to  exercise  a  little  patience,  and  in  1614  he  was  able  to 
buy  Sir  John  out,  and  remain  on  friendly  terms  with  him  in 
spite  of  his  '  brages.' 

Boyle  chronicled  all  his  journeys  to  and  fro  with  care, 
saying,  *  I  began  my  journey  in  the  name  of  God  and  lay  the 
night  I  left  Lismore  at  Clonmell,  the  next  at  Gowran,  the  next 
at  Kilcullen,  and  the  next  in  Dublin.'  He  must  almost  have 
lived  on  horseback  in  those  days,  but  Lady  Boyle  also  had  her 
little  jaunts  to  tell  of,  and  how,  after  being  in  Cork  for  the 
christening  of  Bishop  Boyle's  little  Katherine,  she  and  Lady 
Fenton  rode  on  to  Bandon,  returning  to  Cork  next  day. 
Her  next  letters  are  dated  fourteen  years  later,  but  they  begin 
as  before,  '  My  own  good  self.'  Added  years,  and  sorrows, 
and  joys  only  knit  this  married  pair  the  closer  together. 
She  now  had  married  daughters  to  send  news  of,  and  an  earl 
for  a  son-in-law,  and  her  letter  is  addressed,  '  To  my  best 
beloved  the  Earl  of  Cork  this  to  be  delivered.'  The  Boyle 
fortunes  had  flourished. 

1  Doubtless  '  sueing.' 


56     LIFE  OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

THE  COUNTESS  OF  CORK.  TO  THE  EARL,1  Oct.  1623. 

'  MY  OWN  GOOD  SELF, — hearing  of  this  bearer  by  chance  I 
thought  it  fit  to  let  you  know  that  my  daughters  Barry  and 
Lettice  I  thank  God  are  I  hope  now  past  the  worst.  The  rest 
of  the  children  are,  blessed  be  God  for  it,  in  good  health. 
The  Lord  preserve  both  them  and  us  so  still.  John  Pyne  is 
now  very  dangerously  ill  of  the  small- pox  in  the  house.  He 
is  so  unruly  that  I  much  fear  his  recovery.  I  have  here 
enclosed  sent  you  a  letter  I  had  from  Crosby  touching  Dick. 
I  sent  him  word  to  keep  the  child  from  cold,  and  to  get 
Mr.  Goden  to  teach  him  at  my  Lady  Parson's  house  till  your 
return  home.  [Dick  was  now  eleven,  probably  it  was  fear  of 
infection  of  small-pox  that  kept  him  off  at  Lady  Parson's 
house  at  Youghal.]  So  praying  the  Almighty  to  send  you  a 
safe  and  speedy  return  home,  and  to  bless  us  with  a  joyful 
meeting  in  all  health  and  happiness,  I  rest  as  by  my  duty  I  am 
bound,  yours  to  command  till  I  die. 

KATHERIN  CORKE. 

My  mother  commends  her  love  to  you. 

Lismore,  this  22  of  October,  late  at  night. 

These  later  letters  are  dated  from  Lismore  Castle,  for 
Youghal  was  not  long  the  only  residence  of  the  Boyles  in 
Munster.  The  '  Dick '  alluded  to  is  the  second  son,  named 
Richard  after  his  father.  He  was  born  at  Youghal  in  1612. 
His  christening  must  have  been  sufficiently  dignified,  for  the 
great  Earl  of  Thomond  rode  over  to  stand  godfather,  with 
Sir  Richard  Aldworth  of  Newmarket,  who  had  married  a 
distant  cousin  of  the  Boyles.  The  godmother  was  a  niece  of 
Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton's  who  had  married  Sir  Laurence  Parsons, 

i  L.  P.,  ii.  3,  75. 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  57 

Boyle's  trusty  friend,  and  his  right-hand  man  in  most  matters 
of  business  and  politics.  He  was  at  one  time  attorney-general 
of  Munster,  and  was  also  receiver  of  Youghal,  where  he  rented 
Sir  Walter  Ralegh's  house  from  Boyle.  There  was  a  good 
joke  against  him  one  Christmas  when  he  brought  a  handsome 
present  to  Sir  Richard  of  three  dozen  buttons  of  goldsmith's 
work,  and  behold  the  '  buttons  were  japes  that  proved  but 
copper  gilt  and  enamel ' !  Boyle  wrote  it  all  down  in  his  diary, 
and  we  may  be  sure  Sir  Laurence  was  not  easily  allowed  to 
forget  it. 

The  Jack  Pyne  whom  Lady  Cork  spoke  of  as  having 
small-pox  was  the  son  of  one  of  Ralegh's  original  Devon 
settlers,  the  man  who  was  a  thorn  in  the  side  of  Ralegh,  of 
Boyle,  and  of  every  ruler  of  Munster,  till  long  years  after 
Boyle's  son  Broghill  threw  him  into  prison  to  answer  for 
betraying  his  countrymen  to  the  native  Irish.  But  Jack  Pyne 
did  not  live  to  see  that  day.  Lady  Cork  writes  again  to  her 
husband  : — 

*  MY  OWN  GOOD  SELF, — I  have  received  your  letter  on 
Friday  night  at  supper  which  was  both  pleasing  and  joyful 
to  me,  pleasing  because  it  came  from  you,  joyful  because  it 
assured  me  of  your  health  and  safety,  for  which  I  heartily  pray 
God  long  and  happily  to  continue  and  increase.  Jack  Pyne 
departed  this  life  the  23rd  of  this  month,  about  nine  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  was  buried  the  next  day  at  Mogeely 
church  by  his  mother,  for  so  his  father  desired.  I  have  hear 
enclosed  sent  you  some  letters  which  myself  and  Mr.  Whalley 
have  received  for  you.  My  mother  with  my  Lord  Barry  and 
the  children  who,  thanks  be  to  God,  are  in  good  health, 
remember  their  love  and  duty  to  you.  So  entreating  you  to 
believe  that  there  is  nothing  in  this  world  1  more  desire  to 


58     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF  CORK 

enjoy  than  your  company  at  home  which  I   protest  shall  be 
very  welcome  to  me,  in  haste  I  rest  your  obedient  wife, 

KATHERIN  CORK. 

Lirmort,  this  26th  of  Oct.  1623. 

That  year  there  were  great  changes  in  the  Boyle  household. 
Sir  Richard  strongly  disapproved  of  children  being  brought 
up  at  home,  as  he  believed  the  inevitable  petting  would  weaken 
both  their  minds  and  bodies.  We  know  from  his  youngest 
son  Robert's  autobiography,  that  the  babies  were  put  out  to 
nurse  and  cradled  after  the  country  fashion  in  a  '  pendulous 
satchell.'  It  is  quaint  to  imagine  the  future  Earls  and  Barons 
hanging  like  Indian  papooses  to  the  beams  of  an  Irish  cabin, 
but  the  plan  seems  to  have  succeeded.  Even  when  they  out- 
grew their  swinging  cradles,  they  were  not  allowed  to  remain 
long  at  home.  Alice,  the  eldest  daughter,  was  but  eight  years 
old  when  she  was  despatched  to  Cork  to  be  brought  up  under 
the  care  of  the  wife l  of  Sir  Randall  Clayton  of  St.  Domenic's 
Abbey,  Cork.  Other  little  sisters  followed  Alice  in  their  turn  ; 
and  good  Lady  Clayton,  who  had  no  children  of  her  own, 
took  them  all  to  her  heart,  while  the  girls  loved  her  as  a  second 
mother. 

But  the  journey  from  home  of  little  Roger,  the  eldest  son, 
was  a  far  longer  one.  His  father  wrote  in  his  diary,  '  May 
1613.  I  sent  my  eldest  son,  Roger  Boyle,  whom  I  beseech 
God  to  bless  and  prosper,  from  Youghal  to  my  brother  John 
Boyle  into  England,  and  with  him  William  Supple  my  ward, 
under  the  charge  of  my  servant,  George  Annesley,  to  whom  I 
gave  ;£io,  and  other  ^4  to  bear  the  children's  charges  from 
the  seaside  to  my  brother's  home.' 

1  Anne,  daughter  of  Paul  Herring  of  Exeter. 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  59 

John  Boyle  was  now  a  prebendary  of  Lichfield  and  lived 
at  Stan  more  ;  he  was  a  poor  parson  with  a  large  family  of  boys 
and  girls,  and  eked  out  his  living  by  working  a  farm  ;  but  he 
was  a  kindly,  warm-hearted  man,  who  doubtless  did  his  best 
to  make  the  little  strangers  feel  at  home.  The  following  year 
Sir  Richard  Boyle  was  in  England  on  political  business  and 
came  to  Stanmore  to  stand  godfather  to  his  niece  Barbara 
Boyle,  to  whom  he  brought  '  a  double  guylt  bowle  with  a 
cover  which  cost  me  £j  sterling.'  He  considered  that  Roger 
and  Will  were  now  ready  for  a  plunge  into  a  wider  world, 
and  took  them  away  with  him  to  Deptford,  where  they 
were  to  attend  a  day-school,  and  board  with  their  kinsman, 
Mr.  Christopher  Browne  of  Sayscourt. 

Hard  as  old  Lady  Fenton  found  it  to  part  with  her  eldest 
grandson,  *  my  jewel  Hodge,'  as  Sir  Geoffrey  called  him,  it 
was  a  great  pleasure  to  her  to  know  he  was  in  the  care  of  the 
Brownes,  and  she  wrote  her  approval  of  the  plan  in  her  own 
outspoken,  warm-hearted  fashion.  Mrs.  Browne  was  Sir 
Geoffrey's  sister-in-law,  the  widow  of  his  eldest  brother, 
Captain  Edward  Fenton,  who  had  sailed  with  Drake  and 
Frobisher,  a  very  valiant  and  accomplished  gentleman,  but 
choleric  withal,  for  he  clapped  Captain  John  Hawkins  into 
irons  on  a  certain  voyage,  and  further  threatened  to  stab  him, 
by  which  Captain  Fenton  lost  court  favour  and  had  to  retire 
into  private  life.  He  lies  now,  peaceful  enough,  in  Deptford 
Church  under  a  wonderful  geographical  monument  erected 
to  his  memory  by  Richard  Boyle.  His  widow,  Thomasine 
Gonson,  married  as  her  second  husband  Mr.  Christopher 
Browne,  and  was  mother  of  the  ambassador  Sir  Richard 
Browne,  and  grandmother  of  Mrs.  Evelyn,  who  brought  the 
Browne  estates  of  Sayscourt  to  her  horticultural  husband 
John  Evelyn. 


60      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Under  the  care  of  his  kind  great-aunt  little  Hodge 
began  his  school  life  and  carried  it  bravely  in  Deptford. 
Mr.  Browne's  account-book  tells  of  all  that  was  provided  for 
the  schoolboy  :  his  winter  dress  was  a  baize  (or  thick  flannel) 
gown  faced  with  fur,  and  for  high  days  he  had  an  ash-coloured 
satin  doublet,  hose,  and  stockings,  with  silk  garters  and  roses 
to  match,  an  ash-coloured,  embroidered  girdle,  and  a  cloak  of 
the  same  colour  trimmed  with  poppins  or  squirrel's  fur. 
A  smart  little  silver-grey  figure  he  must  have  been  with  his 
satin  suit  set  off  by  a  taffeta  pickadel  or  ruff,  and  carrying  his 
little  sword  in  a  green  scarf.  He  wore  out  five  pair  of  shoes 
in  a  year,  and  his  book  of  French  verbs  cost  sixpence. 

The  following  Christmas  his  father  sent  Hodge  and  his 
cousin  Dick  Browne  an  angel  of  gold  each  as  a  token.  These 
beautiful  coins,  stamped  with  a  figure  of  the  Archangel  Michael, 
were  Sir  Richard's  favourite  presents  to  his  children  and  grand- 
children. Hodge  did  not  forget  his  Irish  friends,  and  wrote 
more  elegant  epistles  than  did  his  mother.  The  great  Earl  of 
Thomond  was  so  well  pleased  with  one  of  these  schoolboy 
letters  that  he  must  have  carried  it  over  to  Youghal,  for  it 
is  preserved  among  the  Boyle  papers. 

The  little  gentleman  of  nine  writes  with  all  the  grace  of 
an  accomplished  courtier  : — 

RIGHT  HONOURABLE, — I  hope  your  Lordship  will  not 
impute  it  to  negligence  that  I  have  omitted  to  salute  your 
honour  with  my  first  letter,  it  not  seeming  reasonable  to 
commit  that  tender  of  my  humble  service  to  writing,  which 
your  Lordship  being  then  so  neere  I  was  rather  in  dutie  bound 
to  performe  by  my  personall  attendance  upon  the  same.  So 
hoping  in  your  honors  favourable  pardon,  in  prayer  to 
Allmighty  God  for  the  continuance  of  your  Lordship's  health, 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  61 

I   rest,   desiring    to   become  your  Lordship's  more  worthie 
servant  and  soldier,  ROGER  BOYLE. 

If  it  were  not  too  much  presumption  to  (trouble)  your 
honor  with  the  recomendaons — humble  duty  to  my  most 
deare  Father,  my  Mother  and  grandmother,  I  know,  coming 
from  your  Lordship  it  would  find  much  the  better  acceptance. 

May  1615. 

But  this  fair  promise  was  to  fade  all  too  soon.,  Six  months 
later  came  a  letter  from  Mr.  Ball  of  London,  the  godfather  of 
Sir  Richard's  second  boy,  which  the  mourning  father  endorsed, 
*  signifying  the  moste  sorrowfull  news  of  the  too  soon  and  ever 
to  be  lamented  death  of  my  son  Hodge  Boyle.' 

Mr.  Ball  writes  very  kindly,  saying  the  little  fellow  had 
been  a  child  of  good  disposition,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Browne 
took  great  pains  and  watched  day  and  night  over  him,  *  but 
all  availd  not,  for  his  time  was  come  and  there  is  no  doubt 
he  is  with  God.' 

Mr.  Browne  naturally  wrote  more  warmly  of  his  little 
charge  : — 

'  When  I  consider  so  many  towardly  parts  in  him,  so  am  I 
very  much  afflicted  with  the  thought  of  mine  own  evil  hap  and 
misfortune,  that  in  my  house  under  my  tuition  it  should  so 
befall  him.'  Mr.  Browne  adds  :  '  His  frugality  may  appear  in 
this,  that  his  sorrowful  aunt  hath  yet  remaining  in  a  purse  in 
gifts  and  tokens  sent  him,  which  he  called  his  stock,  above  the 
sum  of  forty  shillings.'  Mr.  Browne  tells  that  a  physician 
and  apothecary  were  fetched  by  boat  from  London  to  attend 
on  the  child,  and  encloses  the  bill  for  the  strange  medicines 
with  which  they  dosed  him,  cordial  powders  of  unicorns'  horns 
and  bezoar  stone,  and  then  comes  the  account  for  the  funeral 


62      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

expenses,  the  white  gloves  given  to  his  schoolfellows  and  sent 
to  his  cousins,  John  Boyle's  children,  the  scutcheons  and  the 
black  cloth  that  draped  the  pulpit,  and  the  wine  and  '  confected 
stuffs '  for  the  banquet. 

As  soon  as  Hodge  fell  ill,  Mr.  Browne  sent  for  Dr.  John 
Boyle,  who  started  at  once  to  visit  his  little  nephew,  but  met 
yet  another  messenger  on  the  way  urging  him  to  hasten. 
The  long  letter  which  he  wrote  to  Youghal  when  all  was  over 
must  have  carried  some  comfort  to  the  sorrowing  parents. 
He  says  : — 

'  I  found  the  child  in  body  much  weakened,  and  in 
countenance  altered  strangely,  yet  talking  with  him  and  finding 
his  sense,  speech,  and  memory  all  quick  and  ready,  I  conceived 
hopes,  as  we  are  apt  to  hope  what  we  wish,  of  his  recovery  and 
health.  .  .  .  After  supper  coming  up  to  him  again  I  found 
his  speech  and  memory  still  perfect ;  his  devotion  strange, 
breaking  into  his  prayers  of  his  own  accord  ;  and  only  this 
cause  of  doubt  more  than  before,  a  thicker  and  weaker  drawing 
of  his  breath.  In  this  he  continued  till  ten  o'clock  at  night, 
and  then  breathing  out  powerful  comfort  till  he  had  power  to 
breathe  no  longer,  commended  by  many  zealous  prayers  to 
God,  under  my  hands,  without  the  least  resistance  to  death, 
sweet  soul,  he  made  a  blessed  exchange  of  this  frail  and  sinful 
life,  so  dying  as  I  never  beheld  infant  more  sweetly  to  fall 
asleep,  than  he  easily  and  without  pang  or  pain  yielded  him- 
self to  eternal  rest. 

*  The  physician  is  a  gentleman  very  worthy,  learned,  and 
honest,  and  one  that  attended  your  child  with  his  whole  art, 
care,  and  carefulness.  And  for  the  care  of  Mrs.  Browne,  it 
was  such  and  so  singular,  as  being  sickly  herself,  yet  she 
continually  attended  him  in  her  own  person,  lodged  him  ever- 
more in  her  own  chamber,  and  so  nearly  and  dearly  tended 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  63 

him  as  never  was  mother  more  careful.  It  was  strange  to  me 
to  see  such  affection  in  strangers,  and  gave  me  undoubted 
assurances  as  of  the  child's  sweet  and  winning  behaviour  as  of 
their  singular  good  and  loving  natures.  For  pretty  Hodge, 
sweet  soul,  he  hath  left  earth  but  gained  heaven  :  he  is  gone 
from  his  native  father,  but  gone  on  high  to  the  Father  of  us 
all ;  he  is  pulled  from  his  mother's  joy,  but  tenderly  kept  in 
the  Lord's  arms  ;  he  is  missing  in  his  grandmother's  bed,  but 
blessedly  reposed  in  Abraham's  bosom.  But  I  intended  a 
letter,  not  a  volume  ;  fearing  therefore  to  seem  tedious  I 
take  leave,  and  leave  you  all  to  the  God  of  peace  and  of  all 
true  consolation,  who  comfort  you  daily  with  the  grace  of  His 
Spirit,  and  prepare  you  more  and  more  to  the  glory  of  His 
kingdom.' 

Little  Roger  was  buried  in  Deptford  church  near  his 
great-uncle,  Captain  Edward  Fenton  ;  and  when  his  father 
was  in  England  in  1628  a  tomb  was  erected  over  him  with 
an  epitaph,1  touching  in  spite  of  its  dog  Latin  : — 

H.  S.  E.  Rogerus  Boyle,  Richardi  comitis 

Coreagiensis  Filius  primogenitus  qui  in 

Hibernia  natus  in  Cantis  solo  Patris  natali 

Denatus,  dum  hie  Ingenii  cultum  capescit 

Puer  eximiae  Indolis,  praecocitatem  ingenii 

Funere  luit  immature  Sic  luculenti  Ter- 

reni  Patrimonii  factus  exhaeres,  coelestem 

crevit  hereditatem.2 

Dr.   John  Boyle  travelled  to   Ireland  the  year  after  his 

1  '  Roger  Boyle,  eldest  son  of  Richard,  Earl  of  Cork,  born  in  Ireland,  died  in 
Kent,  his  father's  native  land,  where  he  was  being  educated.      He  was  a  boy  of 
singularly  brilliant  parts,  and  he  paid  for  the  precocity  of  his  intellect  by  an  early 
death.     Thus  he  lost  the  succession  to  a  rich  patrimony  upon  earth  and  obtained  an 
inheritance  in  heaven.' 

2  Lodge's  Peerage,  Archdale's  edit. 


64      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

nephew's  death.  The  poor  doctor's  luck  seems  to  have  been 
as  persistently  bad  as  that  of  his  brother  Sir  Richard  was  good  ; 
he  could  not  even  pay  a  visit  to  Youghal  without  being 
stopped  by  pirates  on  the  way.  Fortunately  the  pirates  of 
the  Irish  seas  were  not  all  of  the  Teach  and  Blackbeard  sort ; 
they  did  a  little  trading  when  the  piracy  business  was  slack  ; 
and  when  they  did  stop  a  ship,  they  took  their  toll  as 
genteelly  as  a  Hounslow  Heath  highwayman  would  have 
done.  So  good  Dr.  John  was  quit  for  his  fright  and  the 
loss  of  eight  pounds  in  gold,  which  his  brother  made  up  to 
him  on  his  arrival  at  Youghal.  He  could  indeed  ill  afford 
the  loss  of  eight  pounds,  for  he  had  a  hard  struggle  to  live, 
and  never  would  have  been  a  doctor  of  divinity  if  Sir  Richard 
had  not  paid  his  university  fees,  and  sent  him  '  two  brace 
of  buck  for  his  doctor's  feast.'  The  open-hearted  Irish 
hospitality  made  his  visit  at  Youghal  a  memorable  holiday 
time  for  him,  and  his  gratitude  to  Lady  Fenton  is  positively 
touching.  He  wrote  to  her  when  he  reached  home  again  : — 

'  Scarce  anything  in  Ireland  gave  mee  greater  content  than 
that,  being  of  no  neer  alliance  but  in  myself  a  meer  stranger, 
unknown,  unseen,  undeserving,  I  was  yet  received  of  your 
Ladiship  as  a  very  worthy  guest  and  accepted  though  most 
unworthy  for  your  adopted  son.  And  your  ladiship's  good- 
ness cannot  be  confined  within  those  narrow  boundes  of  Ire- 
land but  .  .  .  followeth  mee  even  to  my  owne  house  .  .  .  and 
not  mee  alone,  which  am  but  that  half  of  myself  which  you 
saw  there,  but  my  wife  also  the  other  half  which  I  left  at 
home — and  accordingly  you  have  sent  for  me  cassock  and 
stockings,  a  covering  from  top  to  toe,  and  for  her  a  large  fine 
mantell,  a  couvering  from  the  head  to  the  heel.  What  is  this, 
good  Madam,  but  to  cover  all  over  and  to  compass  round 
about  with  your  favour,  inwardly,  outwardly,  with  fervent 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  65 

affeccon,  with  warm  garments  at  home,  here,  there,  every- 
where, to  have  in  mind  and  to  do  good.  God,  the  fountain 
of  all  good,  make  to  flow  unto  you  daily  the  full  current 
of  His  grace.' 

No  doubt  Lady  Fenton  and  Sir  Richard  had  many  a 
consultation  over  his  brother's  affairs.  Sir  Richard  could  not 
be  happy  till  he  had  the  best  part  of  his  relations  imported  to 
Ireland  and  settled  around  him,  and  it  was  clear  that  his 
first  business  ought  to  be  to  get  Dr.  John  a  good  Irish  ap- 
pointment. Just  at  this  time  the  see  of  Cork  became  vacant, 
and  the  Boyles  and  all  their  friends  strained  every  nerve 
to  get  him  the  bishopric.  Accordingly  his  name  was  laid 
before  the  King,  and  he  himself  journeyed  to  court  in  the 
autumn  of  1617  to  see  what  fortune  he  might  win  there.  He 
wrote  in  November  to  report  his  adventures  to  his  brother, 
and  his  experience  gives  rather  a  shocking  view  of  the  way 
Church  patronage  was  exercised  in  the  days  of  good  King 
James.  All  began  well :  he  arrived  without  mishap  at  the 
royal  hunting-box  of  Royston,  and  the  great  Earl  of  Buck- 
ingham himself  laid  his  name  before  the  King,  and  James 
promised  his  favourite  that  Boyle  should  have  the  place,  but 
first  he  '  would  hear  of  his  sufficiency.'  So  far  so  good  :  fair 
words  and  excellent  intentions  were  never  wanting  to  the 
British  Solomon,  and  Dr.  Boyle  preached  at  Huntingdon  with 
approval  and  applause  enough, '  but  the  King  came  not,  the  old 
pain  in  his  great  toe  was  no  little  hindrance.'  Yet  the  prince 
was  there,  'and  told  the  King  that  one  Dr.  Boyle  had  preached, 
and  that  the  sermon  was  well  boiled  and  concocted  thoroughly, 
and  the  Bishops  of  Winchester  and  Durham  also  added  their 
testimony,'  and  there  the  matter  ended  !  Nothing  more 
was  said  of  Dr.  John's  appointment,  and  one  of  the  King's 
chaplains  applied  for  the  place.  So  Dr.  John,  observing  that 


66     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

'  promising  in  general  to  be  thankful  did  nothing  but  hinder 
my  suit,'  decided  to  make  himself  friends  with  the  unrighteous 
mammon,  and  went  to  a  great  lady  and  offered  her  a  hundred 
pieces  for  her  help  !  Whereon  the  great  lady — her  name  is 
not  given,  but  she  was  connected  in  some  way  with  Lady  Boyle 
— was  very  civil  and  even  affectionate,  but  explained  that  she 
did  nothing  for  nothing,  and  she  must  have  five  hundred 
pieces,  or  not  a  word  on  the  doctor's  behalf.  Poor  doctor ! 
He  says  sadly,  *  I  told  you  before  of  a  kiss  ;  was  not  that  kiss 
bitter  sweet  ?  And  I  protested  against  the  new  term  pieces  ; 
had  it  not  been  better  for  me  if  we  had  kept  the  old  word 
pounds  ? '  Was  this  a  jest  on  the  relative  value  of  coins,  or 
did  he  imply  that  the  great  lady,  like  Shylock,  demanded  her 
pound  of  flesh  ?  He  explains  no  more,  but  tells  that 
Mr.  Browne  of  Deptford  encouraged  him  to  persist,  and  even 
offered  to  go  security  if  Dr.  Boyle  had  to  borrow  the  money. 
And  apparently  the  great  lady  got  her  money  and  did  her 
business,  for  Sir  Randall  Clayton,  being  at  court,  wrote  on  the 
28th  of  November  to  convey  the  joyful  news  that  'Dr.  Boyle 
is  now  Lord  Bishop.'  Sir  Richard  of  course  paid  all  the  fees 
necessary  for  his  brother's  institution,  writing  to  Mr.  Browne 
to  advance  .£210,  which  was  repaid  the  following  May. 

The  new  bishop  was  not  able  to  enter  upon  his  functions 
for  nearly  a  year  after  his  appointment ;  he  waited  till  summer 
was  over  that  he  might  get  in  his  hay  crop  and  dispose  of  his 
farm.  He  arrived  in  the  autumn  of  1618  with  his  wife  and 
children,  and  bringing  with  him,  in  the  good-natured  Boyle 
fashion,  the  family  of  Mr.  Hall,  '  of  long  time  preacher  under 
me/  whom  he  hoped  to  provide  for  in  Ireland.  He  wrote  to 
urge  Sir  Richard  to  come  to  him  as  soon  as  possible,  as  he  was 
overwhelmed  with  the  complications  of  the  revenues  and  rents 
of  the  see,  and  was  also  anxious  as  soon  as  possible  to  unite  the 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  67 

see  of  Cloyne  with  Cork,  as  Cloyne,  the  '  five  mark  see '  as  it 
was  called,  was  too  miserably  poor  to  be  held  by  any  man 
alone.  He  succeeded  in  this  endeavour,  but  it  is  the  only  act 
that  marked  his  term  of  office.  Good  fortune  had  come  to 
him  too  late  ;  his  health  was  broken  by  the  struggle  with 
poverty,  and  after  two  years  he  died.  Sir  Richard  writes 
sadly  in  his  diary  for  July  1620  :  '  My  eldest  and  only  brother, 
Dr.  John  Boyle,  was  brought  dead  from  Cork  and  interred  in 
my  vault  in  my  new  chapel  at  Youghal.  God  grant  him 
and  me  a  joyful  resurrection.' 

Naturally,  the  care  of  Bishop  Boyle's  widow  and  children 
fell  upon  his  brother.  Sir  Richard  was  equal  to  any  amount 
of  arranging  and  matchmaking,  and  they  were  all  provided  for 
in  due  time.  It  was  hardly  possible  for  a  woman  to  remain 
long  a  widow  in  a  time  when  the  struggle  for  life  was  so 
unscrupulous,  and  Sir  Richard,  as  the  head  of  the  family,  only 
waited  two  years  before  he  found  a  new  husband  for  Mrs. 
Boyle,  and  chronicled  with  due  solemnity:  'January  1622. 
My  brother  the  late  Bishop  of  Cork's  widow  was  by  me  given 
in  marriage  to  Sir  William  Hull,  and  married  together  in  the 
study  at  Youghal  by  Mr.  Goodwin.'  This  was  a  suitable  and 
excellent  match.  Sir  William  Hull  was  a  very  great  gentle- 
man indeed  :  he  was  Vice- Admiral  of  Munster,  and  was  now 
settled  in  the  far  west  of  Cork  at  Learn  Con  Castle,  near 
Crookhaven.  The  fisheries  there  were  worked  by  Sir  William, 
in  partnership  with  Boyle,  and  they  frequently  joined  in  other 
speculations. 

Sir  William  was  a  widower,  and  it  was  not  very  long  before 
there  was  a  second  link  between  the  families,  for  his  daughter 
Mary  married  her  stepmother's  son,  Edward  Boyle,  and  Sir 
Richard  settled  on  them  some  of  the  lands  forfeited  by  Teague 
O'Mahony  in  the  Desmond  rebellion. 


68      LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Meanwhile  Sir  Richard's  own  family  was  increasing.  On 
April  10,  1616,  he  heads  an  entry  in  his  diary,  'Laus  Deo,' 
and  chronicles  the  birth  of  his  third  son.  At  this  time  a  fine 
English  gentleman,  Sir  Thomas  Somerset,  was  staying  at  the 
College  House,  busy  courting  a  great  lady  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  he  was  so  grateful  for  Sir  Richard's  services  in  his 
suit  that,  when  he  returned  to  England,  he  sent  his  own 
servant  all  the  way  over  to  Youghal  expressly  to  bring  a 
covered  double-gilt  standing-cup  as  a  christening  gift  for  the 
baby,  Geoffrey. 

There  is  a  tradition  still  preserved  in  Youghal  that  Geoffrey 
Boyle  was  drowned  in  the  well  at  the  end  of  the  Earl's  Walk, 
in  the  College  gardens ;  but  a  letter  from  Mr.  Whalley,  the 
steward  and  land-agent,  in  January  1617,  telling  of  the  child's 
death,  disposes  of  this  tradition,  unless  indeed  it  had  been  let 
drop  into  the  spring,  and  so  caught  a  cold  of  which  it  died. 
Mr.  Whalley  says  :  'It  may  please  your  lordship, — the 
Almighty  God,  in  His  great  mercy  to  your  lordship's  younger 
son,  hath  been  pleased,  about  two  of  the  clock  this  afternoon, 
to  give  an  end  to  his  affliction,  wherein  the  Lord  hath  showed 
His  exceeding  great  love  to  the  child  in  regard  of  the  extremity 
of  his  misery  endured  with  unexpected  strength  and  quietness. 
The  ladies  have  religiously  given  him  up  to  the  Lord  who, 
without  all  doubt,  hath  received  him  into  His  bosom.'  *  God 
make  me  patient  and  thankful  to  His  Divine  Majesty,'  adds 
the  bereaved  father  after  the  entry  of  the  date  in  his  diary. 


A   FAMILY   PARTY  69 


NOTE  ON  CHAPTER  V. 

The  children  of  Dr.  John  Boyle,  Bishop  of  Cork,  and 
his  wife,  Elizabeth,  daughter  and  co-heir  of  Matthew  Lucy, 
were  : — 

1.  John,  married  Anne 

2.  Edward,  married  Mary  Hull. 

3.  Barbara,  married  Sir  John  Browne  of  the  Hospital 

or  Commandery  of  Awney. 

4.  Mary,  married  Stephen  Crow. 

5.  Kate,  married  William,  son  of  Sir  Robert  Tynt. 

The  Earl  of  Cork's  sister,  Mary  Boyle,  married  Sir 
Richard  Smyth  of  Ballynetra,  and  had  : — 

1.  Sir  Percy  Smyth,  married   ist  Mary  Mead;    2nd 

Isabella  Ussher. 

2.  Boyle  Smyth,  died  unmarried. 

3.  Katherine,  married  1622  Fitzedmund  Supple. 

4.  Dorothy,  married   ist  Rev.  T.  Burt ;  2nd  Arthur, 

son  of  Mr.  W.  Freke  of  Sareen,  Hants. 

5.  Alice,  married   ist  W.  Wiseman  of  Bandon;   2nd 

Redmond  Roche.  Mr.  Wiseman  was  son  of 
S.  Wiseman  and  Katherine,  eldest  daughter  of  the 
poet  Spenser. 

The  Earl's  other  sister,  Elizabeth  Boyle,  married  Pierce 
Power  of  Lisfinny  Castle,  and  had  :  — 

1.  Roger,  usually  called  Hodge. 

2.  Richard. 


CHAPTER    V 

A    MUNSTER    RULER 

*  Keep  ye  the  law,  be  swift  in  all  obedience, 
Clear  the  land  of  evil,  drive  the  road  and  bridge  the  ford ; 
Make  ye  sure  to  each  his  own, 
That  he  reap  where  he  hath  sown. 

By  the  peace  among  the  people  let  men  know  ye  serve  the  Lord.' 

RUDYARD  KIPLING. 

WHEN  Boyle  settled  down  at  Youghal  as  a  married  man,  he 
began  the  real  work  of  his  life.  His  ambition  was  not  merely 
to  found  a  family,  and  to  make  himself  the  richest  man  in 
Ireland  :  he  was  determined  to  make  Munster  a  prosperous 
member  of  the  British  Commonwealth. 

There  are  few  exciting  episodes  in  the  story  of  steady 
industry  by  which  he  gradually  became  the  ruling  power  in 
Munster.  Only  those  who  know  the  tact  and  energy  needful 
to  reorganise  society  and  administer  justice  in  a  newly  con- 
quered country  can  appreciate  the  qualities  which  enabled 
Boyle  to  change  the  ravaged  province  into  a  land  of  peace 
and  plenty. 

In  spite  of  Carew's  victories,  the  life  of  a  resident 
magistrate  in  Ireland  was  not  quite  that  of  an  English  justice 
of  the  peace  ;  his  duties  rather  resembled  those  of  a  sheriff  in 
Arizona  in  the  days  of  Apache  Indians  and  cattle  thieves. 
One  time  comes  the  curt  entry  in  the  diary,  *  Leg  wounded, 
and  robbed  at  Whitchurch '  ;  and  when  he  reported  to  Cecil 
that  the  country  was  tending  daily  more  to  stability,  he  had 

70 


A   MUNSTER   RULER  71 

to  admit,  that  the  O' Mores  and  O'Connors  had  only  refrained 
from  the  open  warpath  that  they  might  make  *  nightly  stealths 
on  their  neighbours'  flocks  and  herds,'  '  from  which,'  he 
adds,  '  these  frontiers  have  not  been  free  even  in  peaceable 
times.' 

His  neighbour,  Sir  Richard  Aldworth  of  Newmarket, 
wrote  him l  an  account  of  his  judicial  labours  that  reads  like 
a  page  from  one  of  Lever's  Irish  novels.  Aldworth  had  been 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Youghal  without  calling  to  visit 
Boyle,  and  he  wrote  to  explain  that  all  his  time  had  been 
occupied  by  the  riots  of  the  M'Carthies.  Donough  McCarthy 
had  carried  off  fifty  cattle  belonging  to  his  uncle,  by  order  of 
the  Court  of  Wards,  as  he  alleged.  The  uncle  procured  a 
replevin,  got  himself  and  his  friends  sworn  in  as  special 
bailiffs,  and  carried  off  sixty  cows  in  return — not  however 
from  Donough,  but  from  '  divers  poor  people  who  had 
nothing  to  do  with  the  matter.'  The  Celtic  ingenuity 
that  procured  orders  from  the  Court  of  Wards,  and  the 
authority  of  writs,  as  a  cloak  for  raiding,  gave  Aldworth 
plenty  to  do,  and  he  lamented  that  his  wings  were  so  clipped 
by  those  in  authority  that  he  had  only  his  own  servants  to 
help  him  to  enforce  justice.  But  as  his  very  name  counted 
for  a  good  deal,  he  had  to  bustle  about  the  country,  and 
leave  Lady  Aldworth  to  support  his  dignity  when  he  was 
from  home.  He  wrote  that  he  was  now  hurrying  back  with 
her  to  Newmarket,  as,  if  he  were  too  long  away,  '  it  would  be 
rumoured  all  over  Kerry  that  I  had  quit  the  place,  which 
would  breed  such  an  uproar  as  would  not  easily  be  satisfied.' 
In  December  he  wrote  again  in  high  spirits  at  having 
returned  *  from  my  extreme  foul  journey  out  of  Kerry,  where 
I  have  begun  the  reformation  of  the  Irish  habit,  and  executed 

1  L.  P.,  1624. 


72      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

by  martial  law  Teige  O'Dullany,  the  Leinster  rebel.'  Some 
kerns  of  County  Limerick,  who  had  fought  with  Sir  Valentine 
Brown's  servants,  had  escaped  him,  almost  miraculously,  and 
no  one  would  betray  who  had  helped  them  to  get  out  of  the 
country,  but  otherwise  all  was  extraordinarily  quiet  for  winter- 
time, only  twenty-one  cows  stolen  near  Mallow,  '  which  cows 
were  driven  hard  all  night,  and  being  very  closely  pursued, 
were  recovered  in  the  morning,  tired,  and  placed  in  a  glen, 
near  an  ancient  suspected  place  in  Barret's  country.' 

Boyle  himself  had  to  do  some  of  the  cattle-thief  hunting, 
for  his  estates  bordered  on  Condon's  country,  where  the 
Condon  clan  held  that  stolen  beef  tasted  sweetest.  Sir 
Richard  Aldworth  had  discovered  this  nest  of  thieves,  but  left 
them  for  Boyle  to  deal  with,  who  wrote  to  the  Lord  Deputy 
from  Lismore  to  tell  how  last  night  with  six  servants  he  had 
hunted  Mr.  Patrick  Condon,  and  followed  so  hard  as  to  oblige 
him  to  forsake  his  horse  and  swim  over  the  '  great  river  of 
the  Bryde,'  and  how  pursuing  him  from  place  to  place  all 
night  long,  they  caught  him  after  a  twenty-mile  chase,  and 
sent  him  off  under  a  strong  guard  to  Cork  jail.1 

Sometimes  there  were  cattle  thieves  to  punish,  sometimes 
there  were  pirates  to  hang,  sometimes  too  voluble  an  Irishman 
had  to  be  admonished  to  '  restrain  his  tongue  and  depart  the 
country '  ;  but  whatever  the  assize  list  might  be,  the  coming 
of  the  judges  always  filled  Lord  Cork's  household  with 
delightful  bustle.  He  was  proud  to  escort  them  round  to  his 
settlements,  and  spent  five  pounds  on  entertaining  them  at  the 
first  assizes  ever  held  at  Tallow.  The  judges'  dinner  at 
Youghal  was  more  sumptuous  still,  as  the  Earl  of  Thomond 
contributed  a  monumental  pasty  made  of  a  whole  *  fatt  stagg 
baked  '  for  their  entertainment. 

1  L.  P.,  Boyle  to  St.  John,  1618. 


A   MUNSTER    RULER  73 

This  was  all  very  dignified  and  regular,  but  at  the  petty 
sessions  the  crimes  and  the  punishments  were  delightfully 
unlike  the  conventional  calendars  of  English  magistrates' 
meetings.  Not  only  had  interpreters  to  attend,  to  translate 
for  the  native  Irish,  but  the  punishments  were  often  carefully 
chosen  to  suit  the  crime.  There  is  an  account  in  1624  of 
how  Boyle's  ward,  Will  Supple,  was  assaulted  by  Jack  Strong- 
man (a  most  appropriate  name),  who  '  gave  him  a  sudden 
stroke  with  a  cudgel,  and  maimed  him.'  So  Lord  Cork,  in 
consultation  with  Lord  Barry,  Sir  John  Leeke,  and  Sir 
William  Fenton,  had  the  culprit  '  into  the  study  at  Youghal, 
where  kneeling,  he  delivered  his  sword  and  a  cudgel  to 
W.  Supple  to  strike  him  if  he  pleased,  and  also  a  written  and 
sealed  acknowledgment  of  his  fault ! ' 

One  of  the  most  startling  breaches  of  the  peace  recorded 
in  the  diary  was  committed  by  a  lady,  and  a  very  great  lady 
too,  Lady  Ellen  Fitzgerald  of  Dromany,  aunt  of  young  Lady 
Fenton.  'It  was  on  St.  Valentine's  day,  1622,'  writes  Lord 
Cork,  '  that  she  went  out  with  thirty  armed  men,  and  took 
Garret  Fitzjohn  prisoner,  and  carried  him  to  the  castle  of 
Dromany,  and  terrified  and  threatened  his  uncle  Tom.'  As 
these  gentlemen  were  Fitzgeralds,  perhaps  Lady  Ellen  con- 
sidered she  was  exercising  family  or  feudal  jurisdiction  ;  but 
the  authorities  did  not  agree  with  her,  and  a  pursuivant  was 
sent  to  Dromany  to  call  her  ladyship  to  order.  '  But,'  writes 
Cork,  'he  was  not  suffered  to  come  within  the  gates.  So 
I  gave  the  pursuivant  half  a  piece.  But  the  last  of  the 
month  the  fat  sergeant-at-arms  came  with  warrant  for  her  and 
the  rest  of  her  riotous  servants.'  The  fat  sergeant  seems  also 
to  have  succeeded  in  getting  Garret  out  of  prison,  for  in 
September  of  the  same  year  Cork  was  helping  him  and  his 
uncle  Tom  in  their  ploughing  '  by  reason  of  their  poverty,' 


74     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

lending  them  eight  horses.  Four  years  later  Lord  Cork 
writes :  '  I  first  gave  Garret  Fitzjohn's  second  son  of 
Camphire,  two  cows,  and  after  distrained  them  for  my 
rent  of  O'Kill,  and  now  as  a  help  I  bestow  on  him  other 
two  cows  * ;  an  interesting  example  of  how  Boyle's  ingenuity 
solved  the  Irish  rent  difficulty. 

The  domestic  squabbles  of  the  M'Carthies  and  Fitzgeralds 
did  not  however  seriously  disturb  the  comfort  of  the  dwellers 
in  Munster  ;  on  the  whole  the  province  seemed  settling  down 
into  the  quiet  prosperity  of  an  English  county  ;  but  Carew's 
anxieties  were  awakened  by  the  very  progress  of  which  the 
Munster  rulers  were  so  proud.  He  feared  that  the  native 
Irish,  in  becoming  more  civilised,  better  educated,  and  better 
trained  in  arms,  were  not  becoming  more  reconciled  to  the 
English  rule,  but  only  the  more  efficient  enemies.  There 
were  fewer  breaches  of  the  peace  because,  forgetting  their  old 
feuds,  they  were  uniting  in  enmity  to  England,  and  the  long 
cessation  of  war  had  but  left  time  for  those  idle  younger  sons 
to  grow  up,  whom  Spenser  had  found  neither  able  to  live 
quietly  themselves,  nor  suffer  their  dependants  to  live  quietly 
either,  and  who  were  now,  it  was  rumoured,  in  constant  com- 
munication with  the  exiled  Irishmen  in  Spain.1 

In  1 607  Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton  wrote  to  warn  Boyle  of  *  the 
daungers  which  the  tyme  doth  threaten  on  all  sides,'  and 
advises  *  you  do  so  carrie  your  owne  Tennents  and  followers, 
as  they  beinge  furnished  with  armour  and  weapons  may  be 
hable  to  stand  upon  a  firm  keeping '  ;  and  busy  as  he  was 
over  his  multifarious  occupations,  Boyle  never  lost  sight  of  the 
importance  of  keeping  his  tenants  well  armed  and  drilled. 
He  was  a  proud  man  when  he  had  the  opportunity  of  showing 

1   In  1624  Friar  Florence  M'Carthy,  Superior  of  the  Monastery  of  Timoleague, 
warned  the  deputy  of  Spanish  intrigues  in  the  west  of  Cork. 


A    MUNSTER   RULER  75 

English  visitors  the  result  of  his  patient  years  of  work.  In 
1622  Sir  Thomas  Penruddock,  Sir  Henry  Boucher,  and 
Dr.  Price  were  travelling  through  Munster  as  commissioners 
to  inquire  into  the  condition  of  the  Irish  army,  and  Boyle 
welcomed  them  at  Bandon  Bridge  and  mustered  his  tenants 
before  them,  65  horsemen  and  564  foot,  all  English  well 
horsed  and  armed,  besides  their  leaders  and  officers.  After 
the  muster  the  Provost  of  Bandon  entertained  the  great 
men  at  a  banquet,  and  then  they  rode  towards  Kinsale, 
when  *  Dr.  Pryce's  horse,  by  the  discharge  of  a  piece  in  his 
face,  cast  the  doctor  down,  who  had  so  dangerous  a  fall  as 
he  was  a  quarter  of  an  hour  senseless,  and  his  memory  was 
so  for  all  that  night.  But  the  next  day  I  thank  my  God  he 
recovered  and  went  to  Cork,  and  the  other  two  commissioners 
to  Kinsale,  and  I  defrayed  all  their  charges  at  Bandon,  £8.' 
A  few  days  later  the  commissioners  saw  Boyle's  Tallow  tenants 
mustered,  720  foot  and  215  horse,  all  English,  well  horsed 
and  armed,  and  '  we  dined  at  Tallow,'  says  Boyle,  '  which 
cost  me  j£ii.' 

The  feudal  tenures  by  which  Boyle's  tenants  held  their 
farms,  not  only  bound  them  to  appear  in  arms  at  the  call  of 
their  lord,  but  laid  them  open  to  many  forfeitures  and  fines 
which  a  harsh  landlord  could  so  enforce  as  to  nearly  beggar  his 
peasantry.  Considering  what  almost  unlimited  power  a  feudal 
superior  had,  it  is  interesting  to  see  how  Lord  Cork  exercised 
his  rights,  and  to  find,  *  I  gave  Hooper  of  Killeigh's  wife  all 
her  household  stuffs  that  were  forfeited  by  her  husband's 
flying  for  clipping  money,  and  kept  myself  one  cow,  six  beeves, 
two  garrons,  and  two  colts.'  c  I  gave  Mr.  Kendall's  man  the 
hackney  Mr.  Piercy  rode  over  the  ford  of  Lismore  when  he 
was  drowned.'  *  Gave  unto  George  Wood,  whose  father 
drowned  himself  within  the  manor  of  Inniskeane,  all  his 


76     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

father's  goods,  cattle,  leases,  and  debts,  reserving  only  certain 
English  cows.' 

Many  a  time  did  the  Earl  admit  that  he  had  been  '  a  kind 
fool '  to  his  tenants,  as  when  he  agreed  to  abate  five  shillings 
out  of  the  Easter  rent  of  '  the  King  of  Drunkards,'  and  he 
seems  to  have  resigned  himself  patiently  to  the  tenant  of  the 
Youghal  fish-curing  house  being  two  years  in  arrears.  That 
same  year  a  nice  little  letter  from  Cornelius  Gaggry  of 
Tircullen  shows  that  one  tenant  at  least  appreciated  his  kind 
heart  : — 

'  HONOURABLE  SIR, — At  my  last  being  in  Youghal,  when 
you  told  me  you  would  be  at  Tallagh  the  next  Wednesday, 
I  did  forget  to  desire  you  to  take  my  poor  house  in  your 
way,  whereby  my  wife  might  provide  a  dish  of  broth  for  you 
after  coming  from  the  cold  mountain,  and  after  your  hard  fit 
of  sickness  in  the  weakest  and  hardest  time  of  all  the  year.' 

And  again  in  1635,  Lord  Cork  writes  that  in  his  journey 
to  Dublin,  '  I  lay  at  Kilkenny  at  my  servant  Edward  Dean's, 
who  would  take  no  money  for  my  diet  and  horse  meat.' 

In  1616  Mrs.  Mary  Bates  of  Clonakilty  writes  to  him  at 
Bandon  Bridge,  quite  composedly  explaining  that  she  cannot 
pay  her  rent,  *  for  I  presumed  on  your  love,  and  layd  yt  out  in 
Kerry  upon  cows  :  my  husband  was  promised  mony  yesterday 
at  the  bridge  to  pay  the  rent,  but  being  disappointed,  he  was 
ashamed  to  look  you  in  the  face,  for  which  I  am  much 
grieved  ;  but  I  beseech  you  to  excuse  us  both  till  Michaelmas, 
and  then  your  whole  rent  shall  be  ready.'  And  in  the  post- 
script, '  my  husband  doth  teyer  himself  with  dicthing  [ditching] 
the  bogs  and  will  not  be  ruled,  for  which  I  pray  your 
lordship  chide  him.' 

Mrs.  Bates  wrote  a  beautiful  hand,   and  was  probably  a 


A   MUNSTER   RULER  77 

gentlewoman  and  friend  of  the  Earl,  but  another  letter  from 
a  widowed  Mrs.  Forest  shows  he  was  kind  to  all  conditions. 
She  thanks  him  for  having  saved  the  mill  that  her  husband 
had  mortgaged  by  lending  them  ^100,  and  repays  the  money 
with  '  a  wedow's  might  [mite],  which  is  only  thanks  for  your 
great  kindness.' l  Even  when  he  was  over  in  England  his 
tenants  trusted  to  the  effects  of  an  interview,  and  Mrs.  Taylor 
of  Bandon  travelled  all  the  way  to  Dorset  to  '  bemoan  the 
poverty  of  herself  and  her  seven  children.'  She  had  stood 
security  for  a  man  named  Ticknor,  one  of  the  Earl's  debtors, 
and  brought  the  twenty  pounds  due  with  her,  in  gold.  Of 
course  the  Earl's  heart  melted  at  the  sight  of  a  widow  from  his 
beloved  Bandon  Bridge,  '  and  I  forgave  her  her  four  years' 
rent,  and  gave  her  back  the  twenty  pieces.' 

To  the  end  of  his  life  Boyle  had  to  be  the  active  guardian 
of  the  safety  of  his  tenants.  When  Charles  the  First  was  king, 
Boyle  writes  with  satisfaction  that  he  had  succeeded  in  getting 
the  King's  pardon  '  for  my  good  friend  and  tenant,  Mr.  Robert 
Mead  of  Broghill,  who  in  Queen  Elizabeth's  time  had  killed 
one  George  Mead  ;  for  which  he  was  outlawed  and  his  goods 
granted  to  one  of  his  Highness'  servants,  which  grant  was  void 
in  law,  as  he  had  none  of  those  goods  when  the  fact  was  com- 
mitted. I  gave  £200  to  procure  his  pardon,  and  fees  ^48,  6s.' 
Evidently  the  crime,  if  crime  it  was,  had  been  forgotten,  till 
some  hungry  courtier  raked  up  the  story  of  nearly  fifty  years 
back,  and  threatened  ruin  to  an  old  man. 

Lord  Cork  knew,  that,  docile  and  well-meaning  as  his  eldest 
son  had  always  proved  himself,  this  'young  courtier  of  the  King' 
must  be  often  away  in  England,  and  could  not  enter  into  the 
difficulties  of  Munster  farmers  in  the  friendly  gossiping  fashion 
of  an  old  man  who  had  lived  all  his  days  among  them.  He 

i  L.  P.,  ii.  2.  58. 


78      LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

therefore  in  his  will  enjoined  on  him  very  solemnly,  *  that  he 
be  a  favourable  and  friendly  landlord  to  all  his  English  tenants, 
and  not  to  take  any  advantage  or  forfeiture  of  any  of  the 
leases  I  have  made,  for  non-payment  of  rent  at  the  precise  day 
or  place,  or  upon  any  conditions  or  provisions  contained  in 
these  leases,  except  they  shall  prove  false,  treacherous, 
unthankful,  injurious,  or  highly  abusive  unto  him,  but  to  be 
comfortable,  forbearing,  encouraging  and  helpful  unto  such 
as  are  honestly  inclined,  whereby  they  may  find  the  less  loss 
of  me,  as  being  supplied  with  his  favour,  countenance,  and 
goodness  towards  them.' 

For  the  training  and  edification  of  his  tenants  Lord  Cork 
was  careful  to  build  and  endow  grammar-schools  at  Youghal, 
Bandon,  and  Lismore,  and  restore  the  old  churches  or  build 
new  ones  in  the  towns  and  villages  scattered  over  his  estates. 
Indeed,  he  was  not  only  the  chief  landowner,  merchant,  and 
manufacturer  in  Munster,  but,  like  his  Majesty  King  James, 
he  appears  to  have  been  head  of  Church  as  well  as  State. 
When  the  parson  of  Tallagh  delayed  so  long  in  Youghal  on  a 
certain  Sunday  in  1625,  that  he  did  not  reach  home  in  time 
to  preach  his  sermon,  it  was  to  Lord  Cork  and  not  to  the 
bishop  that  he  made  his  excuses.  But  for  some  reason  or 
other,  the  great  man  seems  to  have  been  especially  interested 
in  the  religious  condition  of  Tallow  ;  he  provided  an  allowance 
of  wine  to  refresh  the  gentlemen  who  came  to  hear  the 
Wednesday's  lecture,  and  paid  for  the  dinner  of  the  preacher  ; 
the  vicar  of  Tallow  was  usually  one  of  his  chaplains,  and 
occupied  a  house  at  the  nominal  rent  of  two  fat  turkeys  a  year. 

Boyle  was  very  kind  to  the  Munster  clergy  after  his  own 
fashion,  although  it  was  a  fashion  that  found  little  favour  in 
the  eyes  of  Archbishop  Laud,  who  had  no  fancy  for  lectures 
and  sermons. 


A   MUNSTER   RULER  79 

There  are  constant  notes  among  the  Lismore  accounts  of 
money  given  to  poor  preachers — £10  to  the  preacher  at 
Bandon  Bridge,  twenty  shillings  to  another,  and  ten  pounds 
rent  forgiven  to  the  preacher  at  Mallow,  and  eleven  shillings 
given  to  Mr.  Lowther  the  preacher  for  his  lectures  at  Youghal. 
When  Mr.  Lancaster,  one  of  the  fellows  of  Youghal  College, 
came  in  1616  to  beg  the  Earl  for  preferment,  he  was  given 
his  travelling  expenses,  and  in  1619  the  Earl  agreed  to  give 
him  '  as  Parson  and  Vicar  of  Ardmore '  a  free  gift  of  half  the 
tithe  fish,  which  formerly  had  been  a  due  of  the  dissolved 
St.  Molana's  Abbey,  to  which  Ardmore  had  belonged. 

It  was  indeed  necessary  for  the  gentry  to  bestir  themselves, 
for  the  long  wars  had  left  the  Church  in  Ireland  in  a  deplor- 
able condition.  Church  lands  were  devastated  or  alienated, 
and  church  buildings  were  burnt  down,  and  the  stipends 
were  often  reduced  to  such  a  mere  pittance  that  it  was  hardly 
possible  to  tempt  reputable  clergymen  to  accept  them. 
English  University  men  were  not  disposed  to  cross  the  sea, 
and  risk  poverty  and  the  discomforts  of  life  in  a  new  country 
to  minister  to  the  English  settlers,  while  the  needs  of  the 
native  Irish  were  not  even  considered  ;  their  own  priests  were 
banished,  and  the  newcomers  could  not  speak  their  language. 
Spenser  describes  these  poor  peasants  as  lapsing  into  a  sort  of 
heathenism,  their  religion  consisting  only  of  pilgrimages  to 
holy  wells  or  ruined  shrines,  where  they  recited  half-forgotten 
prayers  whose  meaning  they  had  never  known. 

One  of  the  first  rays  of  the  dawn  of  more  enlightened  days 
came  in  a  letter  from  Boyle  to  Sir  Robert  Cecil  in  I6O2,1 
introducing  Mr.  Daniell,  a  worthy  preacher  of  God's  word, 
who  had  translated  the  New  Testament  into  Irish,  and  desired 
to  dedicate  the  work  to  his  sacred  Majesty.  Mr.  Daniell,  he 

i  L.  P.,  ii.  i. 


8o     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

wrote,  was  a  natural  born  subject  in  Ireland  and  had  studied 
in  Cambridge,  and  had  since  planted  a  church  at  Galway,  '  so 
the  tyme  of  his  mynistery  there  hath  brought  on  those 
barbarous  people  in  some  measure  to  taste  the  sweetness  of 
God's  word.' l 

When  the  children  of  Lord  Cork's  tenants  had  completed 
their  education  at  his  free  schools,  he  did  not  by  any  means 
relax  his  supervision  over  them  ;  he  was  continually  giving 
money  to  apprentice  destitute  girls  and  boys.  He  was  also 
determined  that  older  people  should  not  remain  idle  for  want 
of  work,  and  was  in  the  habit  of  lending  money  to  tradesmen 
on  condition  that  they  should  employ  destitute  people  ;  and 
when  the  first  employer  was  able  to  repay  the  loan,  it  was  lent 
to  another  tradesman  on  the  same  terms.  The  Earl  lent  in 
1635  a  hundred  pounds  gratis  'to  Mr.  Page,  a  clothier  near 
Kilmacke,  to  put  the  poor  people  in  those  parts  to  work,' 
and  twenty-five  pounds  to  Cook,  the  clothier  at  Cappoquin, 
'  to  set  forward  clothing,'  obviously  cloth- weaving.  Sixteen 
pounds  which  he  had  lent  gratis  for  the  poor  of  Dublin  was 
lent  again  to  Mr.  Walter  Bird,  the  sovereign  of  Clonakilty, 
to  enable  him  to  '  set  the  peace  of  the  town  in  spinning,' 
which  seems  to  imply  that  it  was  the  ladies  of  Clonakilty  who 
were  most  active  in  breaches  of  the  peace.  Certainly  from 
the  petty  sessions  reports  towards  the  end  of  that  century  2 
Clonakilty  seems  to  have  been  a  lively  little  town,  in  which 
the  wives  were  generally  to  the  front  when  the  dignified 
members  of  the  grand  jury  took  out  cross  summonses  against 
each  other  for  assault,  and  one  burgess  '  did  beat,  batter, 
bloodshed  and  continually  strike  *  the  other  ! 

1  Mr.  Daniell  only  finished  the  translation  begun  by  Bishop  Karney  of  Orrery 
and  Archbishop   Donellan.     The  New   Testament   was   printed   in    1603    with   a 
dedication  to  King  James. 

2  Cork  Arch.  Journ.t  1896,  321. 


A   MUNSTER   RULER  81 

But  in  spite  of  the  little  skirmishes  on  market-days,  the 
Earl's  efforts  were  successful  in  establishing  spinning  and  weav- 
ing at  Clonakilty ;  so  lately  as  1839  there  were  four  hundred 
linen-looms  at  work  there,  and  the  weekly  sales  of  yarn  were 
often  to  the  value  of  a  thousand  pounds. 

When  Lord  Cork  wrote  in  his  diary  that  he  had  sent 
James  the  Pedlar  to  the  almshouses  at  Youghal  with  five 
pounds  a  year,  and  given  him  ten  shillings  for  his  journey 
from  Dublin,  he  also  noted  that  he  twice  gave  twenty  shillings 
to  poor  old  widows  that  were  beggar-women  in  Dublin,  that 
they  might  buy  them  wool  and  fall  to  work  and  beg  no  more  ; 
and  further  that  he  had  found  a  poor  Munster  girl  begging 
in  the  streets  of  Dublin,  and  given  '  the  bone-lace  woman'  ten 
shillings  to  apparel  the  girl  and  teach  her  to  make  bone-lace  ; 
so,  old  and  young,  the  '  knitters  in  the  sun,  and  the  free  maids 
that  weave  their  lace  with  bones,'  all  had  cause  to  bless  the 
good-natured,  domineering  ruler  of  Munster. 

When  Boyle  had  provided  for  the  spiritual  and  temporal 
needs  of  his  own  towns,  his  work  for  the  province  was  not  by 
any  means  over.  He  knew  well  that  the  quickest  way  to 
civilise  a  country  is  to  make  the  ways  of  communication 
safe  and  easy,  and  when  he  planned  the  building  of  a  bridge 
over  one  of  the  Munster  rivers  he  always  wrote  down  in 
his  diary  :  '  God  bless  me  in  this  good  work  for  the 
Commonwealth.' 

It  was  indeed  little  use  to  have  cleared  away  the  impene- 
trable forests,  and  hunted  down  highwaymen  and  wolves,  when 
rivers  could  only  be  crossed  by  dangerous  fords  and  frail  ferry- 
boats. The  great  man's  own  journeys  were  often  interrupted 
by  floods,  and  when  his  whole  family  was  on  its  way  to 
Dublin  to  welcome  the  bride  of  Lord  Dungarvan,  his  coach 
was  upset  in  crossing  the  ford  on  the  Four-mile  Water  near 

F 


82      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Castle  Connagh,  and  the  youngest  son,  little  Robert,  had  a 
narrow  escape  from  drowning.  The  horses  were  swept  away, 
and  if  one  of  the  gentlemen  in  attendance  had  not  ridden  back 
and  picked  the  child,  in  spite  of  his  terrified  struggles,  out  of 
the  overturned  carriage,  the  wedding  festivities  would  have 
been  turned  to  mourning.1 

This  ford  at  Four-mile  Water  was  one  of  the  most 
important  to  which  Cork  turned  his  attention,  and  he  ordered 
John  Lodden,  'a  free  mason'  of  Bandon,  to  build  a  stone 
bridge  there  over  this  dangerous  stream,  '  and  it  being  a  work 
of  charity,  I  am  to  pay  him  a  hundred  pounds.'  But  in  a  very 
few  months  comes  the  melancholy  entry,  '  Saw  my  new  bridge 
which  John  Lodden  deceitfully  built,  carried  away  by  the 
flood.'  The  Earl  of  Cork's  last  days  on  earth  were  haunted 
by  that  broken  bridge,  and  he  left  careful  directions  in  his 
will  as  to  the  course  to  be  taken  by  his  heir  with  John 
Lodden,  who,  '  having  given  his  bond  of  two  hundred 
pounds  that  he  would  perfect  and  perform  the  work  strongly 
and  substantially,'  had  '  built  the  said  bridge  falsely  and 
deceitfully,  with  ill  stones,  gravel,  lime  and  mortar.'  The 
Earl  therefore  bequeathed  a  legacy  of  £120  for  the  building, 
and,  in  confidence  that  the  civil  war  would  soon  end,  expressed 
the  hope  that  the  mayor  and  corporation  of  Clonmel,  *  after 
they  shall  be  returned  to  their  loyalty,'  would  undertake  the 
carriage  of  the  materials.  *  And  howsoever  that  the  said  John 
Lodden  hath  failed  in  this  work  and  the  trust  that  I  reposed 
in  him  through  too  much  negligence  or  avarice,'  the  Earl 
desired  that  he  should  be  employed  in  rebuilding  the  bridge, 
that  he  might  retrieve  his  character. 

But  the  blame  of  disasters  did  not  always  lie  with  the 
bridge-builders,  for  one  autumn  night's  rain  often  changed 

1  See  Autobiog.  of  Robert  Boyl£. 


A   MUNSTER   RULER  83 

the  sparkling  Munster  salmon  rivers  into  resistless  torrents. 
One  September  storm  swept  both  Mallow  and  Cappoquin 
bridges  down  the  Blackwater,  and  the  eight  hundred  tons  of 
choice  timber  that  Boyle  had  put  into  Fermoy  bridge  did  not 
enable  it  to  stand  against  that  flood.  Experience  showed  that 
it  needed  solid  lime  and  stone  to  bridle  those  torrents,  so  in 
his  last  will  Boyle  directed  that  the  picturesque  wooden  bridge 
that  he  had  erected  at  Bandon  should  be  replaced  by  one  of 
strong  stone,  with  the  Boyle  arms  carved  upon  the  balustrade 
at  either  end. 


CHAPTER    VI 

AT  THE  COURT  OF  THE  BRITISH  SOLOMON 
1613 — 1628 

'  Many  will  entreat  the  favour  of  the  prince ;  and  every  man  is  a  friend  to 
him  that  giveth  gifts. — Proverbs  xix.  6.' 

THE  organised  plan  of  resistance  to  England,  which  Carew  saw 
growing  up  among  the  Irish  Romanists,  gave  its  first  signs  of 
active  life  in  the  Parliament  of  1613-14. 

King  James's  government  already  realised  that  in  the  new 
Parliament  they  would  have  no  longer  to  deal  with  isolated 
discontented  chieftains,  but  with  a  united  national  party  that 
included  noblemen,  freeholders,  and  burgesses.  Better  educa- 
tion, as  Carew  had  noticed,  was  making  the  Romanists  more 
intelligent  adherents  to  their  own  creed,  while  either  from 
natural  feeling  of  opposition,  or  from  the  individualism 
inherent  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  the  English 
were  tending  towards  what  we  may  roughly  call  Puritanism, 
although  it  had  little  in  common  with  the  revolutionary 
Puritanism  of  the  Civil  Wars,  but  rather  resembled  what 
would  to-day  be  called  '  Low  Church.'  To  the  good  Erastian 
settlers  in  Ireland  conformity  with  the  Church  of  England 
was  as  obvious  a  duty  for  a  loyal  subject  as  obedience  to  the 
king  ;  the  Romanists  therefore  saw  their  time  had  come  for 
making  a  stand  for  their  own  legal  existence,  and  strained 
every  nerve  to  secure  a  majority  in  the  coming  session. 


S4 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  THE  BRITISH  SOLOMON    85 

The  government  in  Dublin,  on  the  other  hand,  numbered 
over  its  probable  supporters  with  great  anxiety,  and  called  in 
Carew  to  give  the  benefit  of  his  old  experience.  He  advised 
them  to  keep  out  peers  such  as  Lord  Barry  and  Lord  Roche, 
who  were  under  the  thumbs  of  their  confessors,  and  even 
carried  their  clergy  with  them  to  the  Parliament  House  to  give 
them  counsel ;  three  other  Munster  peers,  he  recommended, 
should  be  obliged  to  give  their  proxies  to  assured  Protestants, 
and  the  heirs  of  Thomond  and  Audley  l  should  be  called  up 
to  make  the  majority  in  the  Lords  secure.2  To  make 
matters  safe  in  the  Commons  for  the  government  party,  it 
was  decided  to  incorporate  several  of  the  newly-built  towns, 
among  them  Clonakilty,  where  Boyle  had  already  settled  a 
hundred  English  families,  and  his  favourite  Bandon  Bridge, 
which  was  given  two  members.  A  Youghal  man  sat  for 
Clonakilty,  Boyle  himself  represented  Lismore,  and  his  kins- 
man, Laurence  Parsons,  was  member  for  Tallow.  With  all 
the  names  and  formalities  of  a  modern  Parliament,  that  Dublin 
assemblage  was  wonderfully  unlike  anything  we  see  nowa- 
days. The  members  for  the  Commons  were  paid  regular 
salaries,  the  Youghal  City  Council  voted  that  the  burgesses 
who  represented  them  should  receive  ten  shillings  a  day  for 
their  expenses,3  and  in  1615  Boyle  notes  that  he  had  given  five 
pounds  in  part  payment  of  the  knights  of  the  shire  for  their 
Parliament  wages  out  of  the  lands  in  his  liberties.4 

But  the  payment  of  members  was  the  least  remarkable  part 
of  this  remarkable  Parliament.     The  scene  that  followed  its 


1  If  Carew  was  not  ill-informed  in  believing  Lord  Audley  to  be  a  Protestant,  the 
young  man  certainly  became  a  Romanist  shortly  after,  as  his  difference  of  faith 
prevented  his  marriage  with  one  of  Lord  Cork's  daughters. 

2  Cal.  Care<w  MSS.,  1611,  p.  98. 

3  Caulfield,  Council  Book  of  Youghal,  22,  38. 

4  L.  P.,  \.  i.  68. 


86      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

opening  on  the  8th  of  May  was  more  worthy  of  Donnybrook 
Fair  than  of  the  supreme  council  of  the  nation.  Careful  as 
the  Government  had  been  to  pack  the  House,  it  was  no  match 
for  the  Irish  minority.  The  Protestants  proposed  Sir  John 
Davis,  an  intelligent  practical  lawyer,  to  be  Speaker  of  the 
House,  and  on  a  division  being  called,  filed  out  into  the  lobby 
according  to  custom.  The  Romanist  party,  being  thus  left 
in  possession  of  the  House,  closed  the  doors  and  promptly 
enthroned  their  own  candidate,  Sir  John  Everard,  in  the 
Speaker's  chair !  The  unsuspecting  Protestants,  startled  by 
their  opponents'  triumphant  shouts,  'An  Everard,  an  Everard  ! ' 
rushed  back  into  the  House,  and  a  free  fight  followed.  Boyle, 
his  old  friend  William  Crofton,  Barnaby  Brien,  Lord  Thomond's 
son,  Adam  Loftus,  and  Edward  Moore  of  Bandon,  according 
to  their  own  account,  '  laid  their  hands  gently  on  Sir  John 
Everard,'  and,  no  doubt  with  all  possible  courtesy,  seated 
Sir  John  Davis  on  his  lap  ! l 

After  such  an  outbreak,  nothing  was  possible  but  to 
suspend  the  session  and  refer  to  England,  and  both  sides 
hurried  over  without  leave  or  licence  to  lay  their  cases  before 
the  King. 

His  Highness,  though  ill  pleased  by  such  tumultuous  deputa- 
tions, received  them,  and  delivered  to  them  a  very  long  and 
very  learned  speech,  which  the  Lord  Deputy  succeeded  in  recol- 
lecting, '  and  put  it  into  writing  and  showed  it  to  the  King, 
who  approved  of  it  for  the  nearest  collection  that  ever  was 
made  of  any  speech  of  his.'  As  quite  one-third  of  the  speech 
was  occupied  by  encomiums  of  the  Lord  Deputy  himself,  his 
integrity  and  sufficiency,  the  report  was  doubtless  a  labour 
of  love. 

The  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland  wrote  to  Boyle,  who  had 

1  Cat.  Care-tu  MSS,,  1613. 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  THE  BRITISH  SOLOMON  87 

not  formed  one  of  the  deputation,  that  '  if  Solomon  were  alive 
and  had  had  that  subject  to  handle,  he  could  not  possibly  have 
exceeded  his  Majesty's  speech  ! '  And  then  the  British  Solomon 
gave  judgment,  and  committed  all  the  Deputy's  opponents  to 
separate  jails,  binding  over  the  peers  in  ^2000  not  again  to 
depart  their  country  without  royal  licence. 

The  packed  Parliament  had  proved  a  failure,  and  although 
the  Irish  had  shown  unexpected  aptitude  for  political  organisa- 
tion, their  advance  in  civilisation  went  no  further,  and  the 
Lord  Deputy  was  at  his  wits'  end  to  discover  some  way  of 
weaning  them  from  their  habits  of  harvesting  their  crops  by 
burning  the  straw  instead  of  threshing  the  grain  out  of  it,  and 
of  tying  their  ploughs  to  their  horses'  tails  instead  of  harness- 
ing the  poor  beasts  in  civilised  fashion.  The  Irish  fiercely 
resisted  any  interference  with  these  cherished  customs,  and  it 
appeared  to  the  Deputy  and  Sir  John  Davis  that,  as  example  is 
better  than  precept,  the  settlement  of  English  farmers  among 
them  was  the  best  hope  of  teaching  the  Irish  less  primitive 
methods  of  husbandry. 

It  was  admitted  that  the  Munster  settlement,  with  the 
exception  of  the  grants  which  Boyle  had  acquired,  had  not 
been  a  success,  but  the  settlement  now  planned  in  Ulster 
was  to  be  quite  different,  and  vastly  superior  to  the  old 
Elizabethan  colony. 

The  design,  as  was  usual  with  King  James,  was  admirable. 
Any  landowners  who  might  unfortunately  be  dispossessed  of 
their  property  were  to  be  properly  compensated,  a  certain 
proportion  of  land  was  to  be  set  aside  to  support  churches 
and  schools,  and  the  Ulster  chieftains  were  to  be  won  over 
to  friendliness  by  free  permission  to  exercise  the  Romish 
religion  and  to  fill  their  households,  in  defiance  of  sumptuary 
laws,  with  their  clansmen  and  retainers.  So  much  for  the 


88      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF    CORK 

theory  ;  unfortunately  it  was  carried  into  practice  by  com- 
missioners, whose  first  care  was  to  fill  their  own  pockets,  and 
who  then  diverted  attention  from  their  misappropriations  by 
laying  claim  to  lands  as  crown  property  without  the  slightest 
foundation  for  the  demand. 

But  while  the  plans  were  being  matured,  the  King  took  an 
immense  amount  of  trouble  over  them,  and  consulted  all  the 
experts  he  could  hear  of.  Among  others,  Richard  Boyle 
received  his  Majesty's  commands  to  repair  to  court.  A  journey 
to  England  was  no  small  matter,  and  Sir  Richard  made  his  will 
and  set  his  affairs  in  order  before  embarking  at  Youghal. 
He  left  Youghal  on  the  5th  of  August  1613,  and  arrived,  as 
he  wrote,  '  God  be  praised,  safely  at  Tenby,  the  yth  day  in  the 
evening,  and  rode  the  next  day,  being  Sunday,  towards 
London,  and  came  thither  the  2Oth  of  August.' 

Boyle  was  personally  unknown  to  King  James,  but  young 
Sir  William  Fenton  was  in  England,  and  being  already  a 
courtier  of  some  experience,  had  warned  his  brother-in-law 
that  gifts  were  as  essential  a  part  of  the  introduction  to  the 
British  Solomon  as  ever  they  had  been  in  the  days  of  the 
Queen  of  Sheba  ;  so  Boyle  had  already  paved  his  way  to 
court  by  a  present.  The  most  acceptable  offering  in  those 
days,  whether  to  king  or  esquire,  was  a  good  hawk,  and 
Boyle's  eyries  on  the  Blasket  rocks,  at  Crook  Haven,  and  in 
O'Leary's  country,  supplied  him  with  many  a  cast  of  merlins 
or  goshawks  to  despatch  to  his  friends.  In  the  July  before 
this  visit  to  England,  Boyle  had  sent  his  servant,  John 
Watt,  to  England  with  five  pounds  in  his  purse  to  present 
his  Majesty  with  a  right  royal  present,  a  cast  or  pair  of 
goshawks,  a  cast  of  tercels  of  goshawks,  a  cast  of  falcons, 
a  cast  of  tercel  gentles,  and  a  cast  of  merlins.  Fenton  had 
described  the  arrival  of  these  precious  hawks  in  a  letter  that 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  THE  BRITISH  SOLOMON    89 

reads  like  an  extract  from  'The  Fortunes  of  Nigel.  The  court 
was  then  at  Bath,  and  when  John  Watt  arrived  with  the  birds, 
'  the  King  came  down  into  the  yard  in  his  pantables  to  see 
them,  who  liked  so  well  of  them,  after  he  had  seen  them,  and 
felt  them  all  severally  on  John's  fist,  that  he  swore  by  his  soul 
he  never  saw  a  finer  present  of  hawks  nor  better  brought 
in  his  life.' 

Doubtless  the  falcons  had  been  excellent  advocates  for 
Boyle  at  court,  but  he  now  brought  with  him  also  weighty 
letters  of  introduction.  Sir  Francis  Annesley,  who  afterwards 
as  Lord  Mountmorris  quarrelled  with  every  one  from  Falkland 
to  StrafFord,  was  at  this  time  a  good  friend  of  Boyle's,  and 
wrote  of  him  to  Sir  Humphrey  May,  '  I  protest  if  his  estate 
were  six  times  as  much  as  it  is,  I  should  think  him  very 
deserving  of  it,  for  he  employs  the  fruit  of  it  altogether  to 
the  strengthening  and  beautifying  of  the  commonwealth.' 
Ridgeway,  the  Lord  Chancellor,  also  wrote  to  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury,  describing  Boyle's  '  preferment  of  the  public 
good  to  his  private  profit,'  and  the  excellence  of  his  plantations. 
'  If  other  undertakers  may  be  induced  to  follow  the  like  course, 
his  Majesty's  charges  might  be  abated  and  the  kingdom  well 
secured  against  foreign  attempts.'  The  Lord  Chancellor  also 
wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Northumberland  recommending  Boyle  as 
the  one  of  all  the  Munster  undertakers  who  had  laid  the  best 
foundation  of  a  civil  plantation  of  English  tenants,  and  could 
bring  into  the  field  '  a  colony  of  four  or  five  hundred  foot  and 
sixty  horse,  all  mere  English,  which  live  together  in  as  civil 
and  orderly  a  fashion  as  in  any  part  of  England.' 

It  was  many  years  since  Boyle  had  been  in  England,  but 
happily  for  him,  not  only  was  young  Fenton  there  to  welcome 
him,  but  the  good  friend  who  had  forwarded  his  fortunes 
under  Elizabeth  was  still  a  favourite  under  the  new  monarch. 


90     LIFE   OF   THE  GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Sir  George  Carew  was  now  Earl  of  Totnes  and  Chamberlain  to 
Queen  Anne  of  Denmark,  and  was  as  ready  as  in  the  old  days 
to  do  a  good  turn  to  Boyle.  And  with  Carew  was  his  son, 
Sir  Thomas  Stafford,  who  was  perhaps  the  nearest  and  dearest 
friend  that  Boyle  ever  had. 

Boyle  therefore  had  the  support  of  two  accomplished 
courtiers  in  England,  and  at  home  in  Ireland  he  had  a 
shrewd,  almost  too  shrewd,  friend,  Sir  Laurence  Parsons,  who 
sent  after  him  a  letter  of  advice  about  the  management  of 
the  Ulster  affairs,  which  is  as  complete  a  guide  to  the  wiles 
of  diplomacy  as  any  tiro  could  desire.  He  begins  with 
a  number  of  useful  hints  on  legal  points,  telling  Boyle  on 
which  of  the  Ulster  estates  it  would  be  most  difficult  to 
assert  the  royal  claims,  as  the  King  would  have  in  some  cases 
to  bring  an  action  against  each  petty  freeholder.  O'Rourk's 
country  must  not  be  overlooked,  *  for  it  is  a  den  of  thieves, 
and  will  never  give  either  Connaught  or  Ulster  peace  till 
it  is  planted  with  English  settlers ' ;  but  then  he  winds  up 
with  personal  matters,  reminding  Boyle  that  it  always  pays 
to  talk  of  the  papists,  and  he  must  not  forget  to  say  that 
if  he  gives  way  for  a  plantation  to  be  made  in  Wexford 
[where  apparently  he  had  property],  it  is  only  because  of  his 
great  love  for  the  Lord  Deputy  and  not  for  any  personal 
advantage. 

The  court  was  still  at  the  Bath,  as  it  was  called,  when 
Boyle  arrived  in  London,  and  by  Fenton's  advice  he  followed 
it  west.  But  for  some  reason  or  other  he  was  not  given  an 
audience  at  Bath,  and  after  spending  a  week  there,  went  on  to 
Bristol,  where  he  always  had  much  business  to  do  with  the 
merchants  who  received  his  iron  and  pipestaves. 

On  the  first  of  October  he  was  back  in  London  and  had 
'  a  long  and  gracious  conference  with  the  King's  Majesty  at 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  THE  BRITISH  SOLOMON   91 

Hampton  Court,'  and  a  month  later  at  Royston  he  had  an 
hour's  gracious  and  private  conference  with  the  King  in  his 
bedchamber  *  concerning  Ireland  and  the  government  thereof, 
where  after  his  Highness  had  delivered  me  many  speeches  of 
great  grace  and  comfort,  he  gave  order  to  Sir  Humphrey  May 
to  make  his  warrant  to  the  Lord  Deputy  to  have  me  sworn 
one  of  his  Privy  Council  of  Ireland.' 

Having  given  his  information  and  received  his  reward, 
Boyle  saw  no  reason  why  he  should  loiter  in  England  when 
a  hundred  different  reasons  were  calling  him  back  to  Ireland  ; 
so  after,  as  we  have  already  seen,1  settling  his  son,  little  Hodge, 
at  Deptford  school,  he  started  for  Dublin,  travelling  by 
Daventry  and  Stone,  and  embarking  on  the  I2th  of  February 
1614  from  Hillbree  Island,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Dee.  The 
winds  were  contrary  and  he  was  driven  back,  but  on  the  I4th 
he  put  to  sea  again  and  reached  Dublin  in  safety  on  the  I5th, 
when  '  I  delivered  his  Majesty's  letters  to  the  Lord  Deputy, 
and  was  that  afternoon  sworn  a  Privy  Councillor  of  Ireland.' 

But  for  all  Boyle's  sharp  wit  and  smooth  tongue,  he  was 
too  busy  a  man  to  play  the  courtier  with  real  zest,  and  Sir 
Thomas  Stafford  wrote  soon  after  his  return  home  to  warn 
him  that  his  departure  from  England  had  been  too  sudden, 
and  he  had  better  write  to  those  lords  of  the  council  f  in  whose 
favour  you  suppose  yourself  to  be  interested,'  to  apologise  for 
not  having  taken  leave  of  them. 

Boyle,  we  cannot  doubt,  made  suitable  apologies  and  sent 
suitable  presents  to  appease  the  great  men's  injured  feelings ; 
he  was  rather  an  adept  in  writing  pretty  notes  of  compliment, 
though  he  hated  wasting  time  in  paying  visits.  Perhaps  as 
'  music  hath  charms,'  the  present  of  an  Irish  harp  about  this 
time  to  the  Lord  Keeper  may  have  had  its  effect ;  at  any  rate 

1  See  ante,  p.  59. 


92     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

Boyle's  fortunes  suffered  no  check.  In  1614  he  was  granted 
an  annuity  of  £365  as  governor  of  Lough  Foil,1  and  on 
Michaelmas  Day  1616  he  was  'created  Lord  Boyle,  Baron 
of  Youghal,  in  the  King's  Chamber  of  Presence  within  the 
Castle  of  Dublin,'  Lord  Louth,  Lord  Moore,  and  Lord 
Killeen  assisting  the  Lord  Deputy  in  the  investiture.  It  was 
an  expensive  luxury  to  be  made  a  baron,  and  '  th'expense 
in  this  jorney  was  ^£340.'  The  grant  recites  Boyle's  services 
in  very  noble  terms.2 

1616. — 6  Sept.  Grant  to  SIR  RICHARD  BOYLE,  knt.,  and 
his  heirs-male,  of  the  title  and  dignity  of  LORD  BOYLE,  BARON 
OF  YOUGHAL,  in  consideration  of  his  having  planted  a  colony 
in  the  south  of  Munster  near  Yoghall,  and  for  his  exertions 
in  various  arduous  public  employments. 

'Whereas  the  King's  Majesty  is  the  fount  and  source  no 
less  of  honour  than  of  justice,  and  honour  is  naught  save 
Merit's  guerdon,  distributed  by  Justice's  right  hand  to  well- 
deserving  men  :  and  whereas,  among  other  grades  of  honour, 
the  style  and  grade  of  BARON  hath  in  it  so  much  of  splendour 
and  dignity,  that  men  when  promoted  to  this  honour,  may 
justly  be  counted  and  considered  the  gems  and  brilliants  of  the 
Crown,  and  the  pillars  of  the  royal  throne  :  and  moreover, 
whereas  Our  beloved  and  faithful  Privy  Councillor,  SIR 
RICHARD  BOYLE,  knt.,  who  is  sprung  of  an  ancient  and  noble 
family,  hath  deserved  exceedingly  well  of  Us  and  Our  realm, 
in  Our  kingdom  of  Ireland,  in  this  respect  chiefly,  because  he 
hath  introduced  into  the  maritime  parts  of  Our  Province  of 
Munster,  and  particularly  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Yoghall, 
(districts  by  most  wicked  traitors  almost  wholly  wasted  and 

1  Smith,  ii.  59. 

2  Translation  of  Latin  original  given  in  Hayman's  Handbook  to  Youghal. 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  THE  BRITISH  SOLOMON  93 

depopulated)  a  very  excellent  Colony,  consisting  of  veteran 
soldiers,  and  many  other  persons,  brought  by  himself  out  of 
England,  who  profess  civilised  life  and  pure  religion  :  and 
because  at  and  over  divers  localities,  he  hath  erected  at  his 
own  charges  sundry  castles  and  forts  fitted  and  adapted  for 
Our  service  ;  which  colony,  castles,  and  forts  are  the  great 
security,  gain,  and  adornment  of  said  Province,  so  that  the 
whole  of  that  district  is  become,  through  the  diligence  and 
prudence  of  the  said  RICHARD,  more  civilised  and  opulent, 
and  more  obedient  to  laws,  human  and  divine  :  and  whereas 
the  said  SIR  RICHARD  BOYLE,  knt.,  hath  proved  himself  able, 
active,  and  distinguished,  in  discharging  difficult  duties  for  the 
state,  and  hath  exhibited  very  many  services,  as  well  in  time 
of  war  as  in  peace,  grateful  and  acceptable  to  Our  most  dear 
Sister  ELIZABETH,  Ourselves,  and  the  State,  which  We  con- 
sider deserving  a  great  reward  of  honour,  Know  ye,  that 
We,  etc.' 

All  Sir  Thomas  Stafford's  advice  was  not  sufficient  to 
wean  Boyle  from  over-absorption  in  his  Munster  affairs  ;  in 
1623  Secretary  Calvert  had  to  repeat  much  the  same  warning 
in  writing  from  Dublin  :  '  If  I  may  be  soe  bould  to  saie  yt,  I 
think  yt  were  very  necessarie  that  your  Lordship  spent  one 
winter  here  to  grace  our  state,  which  will  be  well  taken  by  his 
Majesty  and  my  Lord.  I  could  yeeld  many  reasons  for  this 
which  I  shall  tell  you  of  hereafter.'  Friend  after  friend  echoed 
the  warning.  William  Fenton,  who  was  knighted  the  same 
year  that  Boyle  received  his  barony,  soon  suggested  that  his 
brother-in-law  might  with  advantage  make  his  new  honour  a 
reason  for  crossing  to  England  to  return  thanks  to  the  King  ; 
it  was  time  for  my  lord  to  show  himself  once  more  at  court, 
for  while  his  back  was  turned  his  enemies  whispered  evil  things 
concerning  him.  Fenton  wrote  that  the  King  had  been  led  to 


94     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

believe  *  you  had  done  wrong  to  the  Crown  to  fee  so  much 
land  as  you  hold  from  Wardship,'  and  that  Sir  John  Denham 
had  said  that  he  *  held  Boyle  to  be  a  man  that  had  undone 
many,  and  would  lay  hold  on  any  occasion  of  forfeiture.' 
Next  came  the  note  of  alarm  from  his  friend  Mr.  Henry 
Peers  :  '  Your  Lordship's  estate,  and  God's  providence  therein 
greater  than  that,  which  makes  you  the  greater  subject  of 
talk  unto  men  and  no  less  of  envy.'  One  of  the  Roches  was 
actually  declaring  to  Lord  Salisbury  that  the  Earl  of  Thomond 
and  Sir  Richard  Boyle  were  passing  government  grants  for  so 
many  parcels  of  land  that  the  particulars  contained  in  a  roll 
of  parchment  reached  sixteen  yards  in  length.1 

A  faithful  Munster  neighbour,  Sir  John  Leeke,  who  had 
opportunities  of  hearing  a  good  deal  of  Court  gossip  from  his 
cousin  Sir  Edmund  Verney,  also  learned  that  many  people 
were  accusing  Boyle  of  the  old  crime  of  buying  out  English 
settlers,  and  so  weakening  the  country  of  the  best  of  its  people. 
A  sight  of  the  muster  of  Protestant  farmers  at  Bandon  and 
Tallow  would  have  been  the  best  answer  to  such  complaints ; 
but  considering  the  way  business  was  done  in  the  Stuart 
court,  all  Boyle's  friends  agreed  that  he  must  endeavour  to 
secure  the  support  of  some  one  who  had  the  King's  ear,  and 
Sir  William  Fenton  urged  him  to  come  over  expressly  to 
make  acquaintance  with  the  new  favourite,  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham,  '  who  fails  in  nothing  he  undertakes.' 

Boyle  did  not  make  the  journey  to  England,  but  he  took 
Fenton's  hint,  and  the  following  August  a  cast  of  falcons  and 
a  cast  of  tercels  were  despatched  to  the  Duke,  and  the  Duke's 
mother  received  a  cast  of  falcons  from  Lady  Boyle.  Gradu- 
ally the  acquaintance  grew  more  intimate,  till  at  last  Bucking- 
ham's brother,  Sir  Edward  Villiers,  became  one  of  Boyle's 

1  Cal.  S.  P.  Ire. 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  THE  BRITISH  SOLOMON  95 

chief  allies.  Sir  Edward  was  poor,  and  Boyle  could  supply 
his  needs  ;  but  also  there  appears  to  have  been  some  extra- 
ordinary fascination  about  the  Villiers  family  that  made  all 
who  knew  them  intimately  overlook  their  faults  and  follies, 
and  remain  devoted  to  the  end.  Endymion  Porter's  last 
words  in  his  will  commanded  his  son  to  be  faithful  and  grate- 
ful to  the  house  of  Villiers,1  and  when  the  Earl  of  Cork  was 
an  old  man,  the  summit  of  his  glory  was  the  marriage  of  one 
of  his  sons  to  the  daughter  of  a  Villiers.  She  never  seems  to 
have  said  or  done  anything  remarkable,  but  to  Richard  Boyle 
she  was  the  best  beloved  of  his  daughters-in-law.  The 
Villiers  were  perhaps  rather  typical  of  their  time ;  every  age 
has  its  own  frailties  and  crimes ;  seventeenth-century  failings 
are  now  out  of  fashion,  and  appear  to  us  rather  scandalous  ; 
but  it  is  very  probable  that  seventeenth-century  consciences 
might  revolt  at  faults  we  now  consider  venial. 

But  when  all  is  said,  the  open  way  in  which  dignities  were 
then  bought  and  sold  is  startling  to  realise.  In  the  summer 
of  1620  Sir  Edward  Villiers  was  very  busy  on  behalf  of  his 
Munster  friend  :  Boyle  had  already  been  given  to  understand 
that  a  higher  title  than  that  of  Baron  might  be  his,  no  doubt 
in  the  words  of  old  Trapboys,  '  for  a  consideration.'  We  are 
not  told  whether  the  price  was  too  high,  or  the  conditions  too 
hard,  but  in  the  spring  the  title  of  Earl  had  actually  been 
offered  to  him,  and  had  been  declined.  Then  further  letters 
passed,  and  Sir  Edward  Villiers  once  again  made  himself  very 
busy,  and  Cousin  Parsons,  as  Lady  Boyle's  trustee,  was  called 
into  consultation,  and  in  July  a  new  bargain  was  offered,  and 
a  covenant  signed,  by  which  Sir  Edward  Villiers  agreed  to 
procure  for  Boyle  the  right  to  appoint  guardians  for  any  of 
his  sons  who  might  be  under  age,  or  of  his  daughters  who 

1  Life  and  Letters  of  Endymion  Porter,  p.  365. 


96     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

might  be  unmarried  at  the  time  of  his  death,  so  that  their 
wardship,  instead  of  passing  to  the  Crown,  should  be  vested 
in  Sir  William  Fenton  and  Sir  Laurence  Parsons,  and  the 
children  be  safe  in  the  hands  of  their  friends,  instead  of  being 
sold  by  the  King  to  the  highest  bidder. 

This  agreement  must  have  been  an  immense  relief  to 
Boyle,  who  gladly  paid  £500  to  Sir  Edward  for  procuring  the 
boon.  Then  Lady  Boyle  and  Lady  Villiers  made  their  little 
bargain,  and  Lady  Villiers  was  presented  with  £500,  and 
promised  to  procure  a  title  for  Dick,  the  eldest  son,  and  heir 
of  Youghal.  Boyle's  cousin  Cave  was  employed  as  London 
agent  in  all  this  business,  and  received  a  gratuity  of  £20  '  for 
his  travail  and  pains';  and  then  the  most  important  negotiation 
of  all  was  concluded.  Sir  Edward  Villiers  was  paid  ^4000, 
and  on  the  2Oth  of  December  1620  comes  the  triumphant 
entry  in  Boyle's  diary  :  '  This  day  my  cousin  Sir  Laurence 
Parsons  brought  and  delivered  me  the  King's  Majesty's 
letters  patent  under  the  great  [seal]  of  England  bearing 
date  the  26th  of  October  last  past,  whereby  I  was  created 
and  made  Lord  Viscount  of  Dungarvon  and  Earl  of  Cork  : 
for  which  great  addition  of  earthly  honours  God  make  me 
and  my  heirs  thankful  to  the  Almighty  and  to  his  sacred 
majesty,  and  that  it  may  continue  unspotted  in  the  name 
of  the  Boyles,  and  my  posterity  until  the  end  of  the  world. 
Amen.' 

His  gratitude  to  Heaven  was  shown  by  his  choice  of  a 
motto.  The  Earl  of  Cork's  shield  ever  after  bore  the  pious 
words,  '  God's  providence  is  my  inheritance.'  His  thankful- 
ness to  King  James  was  as  great  as  if  the  honour  had  been 
bestowed  out  of  pure  grace  ;  to  the  feelings  of  those  days 
there  was  neither  degradation  nor  bathos  in  the  added 
entry :  '  The  fees  whereof  in  England  and  Ireland  stood 


AT  THE  COURT  OF  THE  BRITISH  SOLOMON   97 

me  in  ^305.4.4  sterl.,  besides  ^4500  ster.  otherwise 
paid.'1 

The  Earl  of  Cork  was,  if  possible,  a  busier  man  than  Sir 
Richard  Boyle  had  been ;  and  although  he  never  seems  to  have 
desired,  or  been  offered,  the  post  of  Lord  President,  his  power 
in  Munster  was  quite  as  great  as  that  of  the  official  governor. 
As  long  as  the  great  Earl  of  Thomond  lived  there  was  the  less 
need  of  a  great  Earl  of  Cork  ;  but  when  the  day  came  for  a 
new  king  to  ascend  the  English  throne,  Thomond  had  been 
gathered  to  his  fathers,  and  then  it  was  lucky  for  the  peace  of 
Munster  that  an  Earl  of  Cork  lived  at  Youghal  who  remem- 
bered the  accession  of  King  James,  and  was  on  his  guard 
against  any  further  revolts,  whether  farcical  or  serious. 

On  the  2yth  of  March  1628  King  James  died  at  Theobalds, 
but  it  was  not  till  the  i  oth  of  April  that  Sir  Thomas  Stafford 
himself  came  over  to  bring  the  news  to  Munster. 

f  He  arrived,'  says  the  diary,  '  bringing  the  unwelcome 
tidings  of  King  James  his  decease,  and  the  joyful  news  of  the 
peaceable  receiving  and  proclaiming  of  King  Charles,  whom  I 
beseech  God  ever  to  bless,  prosper  and  defend.  Upon  notice 
of  which  great  accident  and  alteration  I  presently  had  the  ports 
of  our  town  shut  up,  and  them  and  all  ways  and  all  passages 
by  land  and  water  stopped  and  well  guarded,  and  with  my 
own  hand  wrote  letters  to  the  principal  councillors  and  gentle- 
men of  quality  and  chief  officers  of  every  city,  advertising 
them  of  this  heavy  and  joyful  work  of  God,  and  at  a  private 
postern  gate  so  readily  put  out  and  despatched  my  messengers, 

1  Sir  Richard  Cox  relates  that  King  James  asked  Chief  Justice  Aylmer  the  true 
cause  of  the  decay  of  Ireland.  Aylmer  replied  that  it  was  due  to  the  landowners 
being  absentees,  and  suggested  that  the  King  should  command  them  to  return  to  their 
estates,  or  else  forfeit  their  lands.  In  consequence  of  this  action,  the  King  deprived 
the  Earl  of  Shrewsbury  of  his  title  of  Viscount  Dungarvan,  and  conferred  it  on  Sir 
Richard  Boyle. — Cox's  Regnum  Corcagiensis. 

G 


98      LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

as  in  every  place  they  brought  the  news  thereof,  whereby  all 
places  were  made  secure  and  guarded  before  any  noise  or 
rumour  could  disturb  them. 

*  1 1  th.  Then  happily  arrived  600  foot  soldiers  at  Youghal 
and  refreshed  and  sent  away  to  their  several  garrisons. 

'  Having  no  letters  from  my  Lord  Deputy,  and  having 
hourly  notice  of  conventicals  and  assemblys  of  the  natives  and 
recusants,  posted  an  express  messenger  to  my  Lord  Deputy 
giving  him  and  his  council  an  account  of  my  proceedings  and 
craving  proclamation.' 

The  Deputy  seems  hardly  to  have  realised  the  dangers  of 
delay,  and  when  he  did  vouchsafe  letters,  sent  them  in  such  a 
careless  fashion  as  shocked  Boyle's  sense  of  propriety. 

f  1 9th.  This  day  as  I  was  at  dinner,  received  letter  from 
the  Lord  Deputy  and  Council,  brought  by  an  ordinary  foot- 
man called  Teague  Connaie,  whereon  I  presently  forsook  my 
dinner  and  immediately  wrote  letters,  and  in  every  two  of 
them  enclosed  three  proclamations,  so  as  they  were  all 
dispatched  in  two  hours,  to  the  Earl  of  Thomond,1  the  Lord 
Justice  Sarsfield,  Sir  Richard  Aldworth,  and  all  the  mayors, 
sheriffs,  etc.,  so  that  his  Majesty  was  most  solemnly  and 
joyfully  proclaimed  that  night  in  Youghal,  Tallagh  and  Lis- 
more,  and  at  Lismore  I  was  personally  present,  and  we  all 
drank  King  Charles  his  health  on  our  knees.' 

With  that  proclamation  the  old  days  came  to  an  end,  and 
the  '  old  courtier  of  the  Queen '  was  to  see  new  days  and 
learn  many  new  things,  for  with  the  death  of  King  James  a 
new  spirit  began  to  awake,  and  a  more  modern  atmosphere 
seems  to  breathe  around  men's  actions. 

1  Eldest  son  of  the  great  Earl  of  Thomond.      He  died  without  heirs,  and  was 
succeeded  by  his  brother  Barnaby. 


CHAPTER    VII 

IN  A  SEAPORT  TOWN 
1603 — 1618 

1 1  thank  my  fortune  for  it, 
My  ventures  are  not  in  one  bottom  trusted, 
Nor  to  one  place.' 

Merchant  of  Venice. 

WHEN  Boyle  succeeded  to  Ralegh's  seignory  of  Youghal  he 
found  the  town  but  just  recovering  from  the  devastation  of 
the  Munster  war.  Although  the  Mayor  had  opened  the  gates 
of  Youghal  to  the  Irish  enemy,  his  cowardice  failed  of  its 
intention,  and  the  town  was  as  thoroughly  sacked  and  burnt 
as  though  it  had  been  taken  by  assault.  When  the  relieving 
English  army  arrived  it  found  little  left  of  the  seaport  but  a 
heap  of  smoking  ruins,  and  nothing  to  do  but  to  hang  the 
traitorous  mayor  over  his  own  doorway. 

But  the  spirit  of  the  surviving  townsmen  was  not  broken. 
While  Kinsale  was  still  sunk  in  hopeless  ruin,  and  the  sovereign 
of  Dingle  was  writing  lamentable  petitions  for  government 
help,  the  citizens  of  Youghal  gathered  together  the  relics  of 
their  fortunes,  rebuilt  their  town,  and  recommenced  their 
commerce.  Youghal  had,  it  is  true,  great  natural  advantages  : 
its  sheltered  harbour  was  convenient  for  England,  and  its  own 
meadows  and  forests  furnished  the  lumber,  tallow,  and  hides 
that  were  its  chief  export.  Salted  salmon  and  hake  were 
shipped  off  in  their  season,  and  a  little  coarse  frieze  was  woven 
and  sold  ;  but  there  the  enterprise  of  the  townsmen  stopped. 


ioo    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

So  late  as  1611  all  the  iron  used  in  Youghal  had  to  be  imported 
from  England,  and  manufactures  of  all  sorts  were  practically 
non-existent  till  started  by  Boyle. 

He  lost  no  time  in  taking  his  part  in  developing  the 
resources  of  the  town,  he  did  not  even  wait  for  his  property 
to  be  secured  by  a  royal  grant,  before  beginning  to  correspond 
with  a  London  merchant  about  settling  linen  weavers  in 
Youghal,  and  chartering  a  ship  to  trade  regularly  across  the 
Channel  carrying  Irish  pipestaves  and  lead  to  England.  The 
manufacture  of  pipestaves  was  one  of  the  first  industries 
started  by  the  Elizabethan  settlers,  and  for  some  time  was  the 
chief  Munster  trade,  but  it  was  carried  on  so  recklessly  that 
the  forests  which  had  been  the  pride  of  Munster  disappeared 
rapidly,  and  Boyle  soon  found  he  had  to  remonstrate  with  the 
woodcutters.  One  of  the  chief  sinners  in  this  respect  was  a 
Devonshire  man,  Pyne,  whom  Ralegh  had  settled  at  Mogeeley. 
He  was  more  than  once  accused  of  dishonesty  when  he  was 
Ralegh's  agent,  but  he  had  succeeded  in  clearing  himself  of  the 
charge  before  the  English  council ;  Boyle,  however,  never  liked 
or  trusted  him,  and  said  very  plain  things  to  him  over  his 
destroying  the  forests  for  the  sake  of  his  pipestaves.  But 
even  more  reckless  than  the  settlers  were  the  woodcutters  sent 
over  to  select  oak-trees  for  building  the  King's  ships.  Loyal 
as  Boyle  was,  he  had  no  fancy  to  allow  royal  agents  to  pick  and 
choose  among  his  timber,  and  he  wrote  very  strongly  to  Cecil 
in  1608  to  beg  that  he  might  be  sent  notice  before  these  men 
set  to  work,  as  the  last  who  came  brought  neither  permission 
to  cut  timber  nor  money  to  pay  for  it.  Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton 
wrote  at  the  same  time  to  suggest  that  there  were  more  forests 
in  Ireland  than  those  of  Munster,  and  that  the  royal  agents 
might  sometimes  go  further  afield.1 

1  Cal.  S.  P.  Ire.,  1608. 


IN   A   SEAPORT   TOWN  101 

But  for  all  Boyle's  remonstrances,  the  royal  woodcutters 
continued  to  be  a  constant  source  of  worry.  In  May  1619, 
he  complained  that  Sir  Lionel  Cranfield  and  Sir  T.  Smith  had 
sent  over  a  shipwright,  Stephen  Dansk,  who  cut  down  sixty 
trees  near  Clonakilty  without  'notice  or  licence,  Clonakilty 
'  being  a  new  incorporated  town,  where  there  is  not  timber  nor 
wood  enough  sufficient  to  finish  or  maintain  the  building  there 
begun.'  To  touch  one  of  Boyle's  new  towns  was  to  touch  the 
apple  of  his  eye.  But  he  permitted  the  shipwright  to  carry 
away  the  wood  he  had  cut,  only  he  declined  to  receive  any 
payment  for  it,  '  sending  it  as  a  poor  token  of  my  goodwill ' ; 
a  very  dignified  form  of  reproof.  He  was,  however,  quite 
willing,  he  wrote,  to  enter  into  an  agreement  for  a  regular 
supply  of  wood,  and  could  send  a  thousand  tons  of  timber  yearly 
at  twenty  shillings  a  ton,  the  timber  to  be  of  all  kinds,  '  elbow- 
pieces,  hook  or  crouches,  studdle  timbers,  and  top  timbers.' l 
Careful  forester  though  he  was,  Boyle  was  never  churlish,  and 
in  1631  he  gave  Mr.  Slingsby,  the  Lord  Deputy's  servant, 
sixty  tons  of  ship's  timber,  '  in  knees,'  from  his  Bandon  woods, 
at  cost  price  ;  Mr.  Slingsby  had  plans  for  making  the  Bandon 
river  navigable  from  Kinsale  up  to  Bandon,  so  no  doubt  he 
was  building  boats  for  his  new  trade,  a  project  that  would  be 
sure  to  awaken  Boyle's  interest. 

But  he  needed  timber  for  his  own  shipwrights  and  for  his 
own  house-building.  In  1 6 1 6  he  paid  a  shipwright  six  pounds 
to  build  a  seine  boat,  and  at  the  same  time  he  was  putting  up 
salting  and  fish  houses  and  a  fish  press  at  Ardmore,  where 
he  and  the  Hulls  were  setting  up  a  fish-curing  establishment. 
In  the  same  year  he  makes  a  memorandum  :  '  Delivered  to 
Captain  William  Hull  £20  as  earnest-money  to  buy  casks  for 
fumados,  upon  an  agreement  to  have  half  his  fish  to  be  taken 

1  L.  P.,  il.  2.  1 60. 


102     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

the  next  season  at  Crookhaven,  in  which  he  and  I  are  to  be 
partners,  and  Captain  Hull  is  to  adventure  £100  with  me  in 
my  next  season's  fishing  at  Ardmore.' 

Boyle  was  too  wise  a  man  to  use  his  oak-woods  for  mere 
fuel ;  when  letting  a  brewery  he  was  careful  to  make  the 
condition  that  no  wood  was  to  be  used  in  the  furnaces,  '  but 
only  ferns  and  heath  to  brew  withal.'  In  1619  he  sent  over 
to  the  Forest  of  Dean  to  inquire  about  the  possibility  of 
shipping  cinders  to  Ireland,  and  in  1626  he  began  to  buy  sea 
coal  at  seventeen-pence  a  barrel  for  his  iron-foundries  in  the 
Blackwater  Valley,  for  he  had  soon  discovered  there  was  ore 
enough  to  be  found  in  those  Devonian  strata  to  supply  the 
needs  of  the  country  and  begin  an  important  export  trade 
from  Youghal. 

The  Irish  name  of  Tallow,  which  signifies  Iron  Hill, 
shows  that  the  ores  there  were  known  of  old,  and  Ralegh  had 
begun  to  work  its  mines  ;  but  the  mineral  wealth  of  the 
country  was  never  seriously  developed  till  Boyle  came.  He 
sunk  mine  after  mine  ;  at  Ballyregan,  Cappoquin  and  Mocollop, 
Ardglyn,  Kilmacoe  and  Lisfinnon,  the  forges  glowed,  till  the 
Blackwater  valley  bid  fair  to  be  an  Irish  Black  Country.  The 
ore  is  said  by  a  contemporary  to  be  hematite,  bog  iron  ore, 
and  clay  ironstone  ; 1  and  Boyle  worked  it  into  all  sorts  of 
forms,  from  bar  iron  for  export,  to  the  Tallow  knives  he  sent 
to  Lady  Carew  as  a  Christmas  present.  In  seven  years  he 
made  2, 1 ,000  tons  of  bar  iron,  worth  at  £  1 8  a  ton  the  immense 
sum  of  ^378,ooo.2 

In  1619  Boyle  sent  over  an  agent  to  visit  the  English  iron 
country  to  search  for  some  of  his  workmen  who  had  run 
away,  and  if  he  failed  to  find  them,  to  seek  out  some  honest 
men  in  their  room,  for  the  new  country  was  crying  out  for 

1   Boate  quoted  in  Smith,  ii.  281.  2  See  Smith,  i.  104. 


IN   A  SEAPORT   TOWN  103 

skilled  artisans.  The  messenger  was  to  ride  into  the  Forest 
of  Dean  and  then  on  to  Bewdley,  and  inquire  what  the  iron 
forgers  of  Staffordshire  and  Shropshire  paid  for  a  ton  of  pig 
iron  from  the  Forest.  Boyle  was  indeed  an  Iron  King,  and 
soon,  not  content  with  the  mere  production  of  bar  iron,  he 
began  to  manufacture  guns.  In  March  1623  the  Lord 
President  of  Munster  came  from  Mallow  to  Lismore  and  saw 
a  piece  of  ordnance  and  some  shot  cast  at  Cappoquin,  and 
Sir  Sackville  Crow,  who  had  the  monopoly  of  the  manufacture 
in  Ireland,  hired  the  use  of  the  furnaces  for  his  own  business. 
Boyle's  desire  was  to  make  artillery  for  export — he  already 
had  a  good  trade  in  bar  iron  with  the  Low  Countries,  an 
Amsterdam  merchant  paying  him  ^4600  for  it  in  1623.  But 
there  were  great  difficulties  in  exporting  any  commodities  in 
those  days,  the  customs  seeming  designed  to  hamper  trade 
in  all  ways,  and  Boyle  had  to  offer  Sir  George  Calvert  and 
the  Lord  Deputy  £500  for  their  services  before  they  would 
assist  him  to  procure  a  licence  to  export  his  ordnance. 

It  is  curious  that  Boyle  does  not  seem  to  have  tried  to 
work  any  of  the  rich  mineral  beds  in  West  Cork,  but  he  joined 
Sir  Charles  Coote  in  starting  iron-works  in  County  Leitrim, 
and  bought  the  iron-works  of  Scariff  in  Clare  from  Lady 
Boyle's  nephew,  Luke  Brady,  in  1634.  Elizabeth,  a  sister  of 
Luke  Brady's,  was  married  at  Lismore  in  1621  to  a  certain 
Richard  Blacknoll,  and  the  following  year  Blacknoll  and  a 
cousin,  George  Boyle,  took  a  lease  of  the  Kilmackoe  iron- 
works at  a  rent  of  £400  a  year,  to  be  partly  paid  in  bar  iron. 
Blacknoll  soon  became  the  chief  man  in  all  Boyle's  iron 
business,  but  before  long  there  arose  suspicions  that  all  was 
not  well  with  his  accounts,  and  then  it  came  out  that 
he  and  Brady,  not  content  with  cheating  Boyle  of  his  profits, 
were  conspiring  to  rob  him  of  his  lands.  The  Lord  Treasurer 


io4     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

told  Boyle  that  they  had  offered  to  pay  the  King  £4000  a  year 
for  wood  and  iron,  and  to  make  ordnance  for  him,  if  he  would 
recover  from  Boyle,  and  lease  to  them,  that  part  of  the  Ralegh 
estates  on  which  the  iron-works  stood.  This  precious  scheme 
came  to  nothing,  and  Boyle  does  not  seem  to  have  thought 
much  the  worse  of  Luke  Brady,  who  was  a  poor  creature, 
always  in  debt  and  in  trouble.  But  Blacknoll  was  a  cleverer 
rogue,  and  for  a  time  had  a  most  successful  career  ;  he  was 
not  to  be  daunted  at  the  failure  of  one  or  two  schemes,  and 
proceeded  to  do  business  on  the  grand  scale,  and  actually  got 
the  better  of  Sir  Gerard  Lowther,  Sir  George  RatclifFe,  and 
even  Lord  Straffbrd  himself.  Boyle  began  a  lawsuit  to 
recover  some  of  the  money  made  away  with,  but  it  dragged 
on  interminably,  till  at  last,  in  1635,  Blacknoll  died,  leaving 
his  widow  no  legacy  but  the  suit.  Boyle  wrote  in  his  diary  : 
'  God  forgive  him  his  sins  and  the  high  deceit  and  inexpressible 
wrongs  he  did  to  myself  in  my  reputation  and  estate,  I  being 
the  worse  for  him  by  at  least  £10,000,  and  although  his 
poverty  made  me  hopeless  of  restitution,  yet  it  was  my  prayer 
to  God  that  I  might  live,  and  he  also,  till  we  had  a  fair  hearing 
and  I  had  a  repair  to  my  credit.' 

Mrs.  Blacknoll  stoutly  held  on  to  the  lawsuit  for  a  couple 
of  years,  but  at  last  she  allowed  it  to  be  referred  to  arbitration. 
Her  brother  Luke  Brady,  Sir  William  Fenton,  and  Sir  William 
St.  Leger,  Lord  President  of  Munster,  met  to  debate  in  July 
1637  at  tne  President's  house  at  Doneraile,  but  did  not  give 
their  award  till  October,  when  they  decided  Mrs.  Blacknoll 
should  pay  Boyle  £6600.  Boyle,  having  now  no  one  to  fight, 
promptly  discovered  that  he  was  very  sorry  for  Mrs.  Blacknoll, 
and  *  in  regard  of  her  poverty  and  many  young  children,'  not 
only  forgave  her  the  £6600,  but  promised  to  allow  her  £20 
yearly  till  her  youngest  child  was  fourteen. 


IN   A  SEAPORT   TOWN  105 

The  iron -works  were  not  Lord  Cork's  only  mineral 
venture.  His  copper- mines  were  not  of  great  importance, 
but  away  to  the  east  of  Youghal,  where  the  Irish  Minehead 
looks  across  the  sea  to  her  Somerset  namesake,  the  Earl  smelted 
lead,  and  worked  silver-mines  of  considerable  value.  We  are 
not  nowadays  used  to  thinking  of  Ireland  as  an  El  Dorado, 
but  money  was  to  be  made  there  from  the  precious  metals 
in  the  seventeenth  century,  and  when  Lord  Cork  leased  his 
silver -mines  to  Captain  Burgh  in  1631,  the  rent  paid  in 
kind  was  very  large.  The  Earl  was  to  receive  '  a  fair  bason 
and  ewer,  four  dozen  of  large  silver  plates,  and  eight 
great  silver  candlesticks,  all  to  be  of  plain  London  touch, 
with  my  arms  engraved  on  them,  for  the  providing  whereof 
[of  the  arms]  I  wrote  to  my  goldsmith,  Mr.  Nathaniel 
Stoughton.' 

Further  mineral  wealth  was  found  in  Irish  marbles. 
Satisfactory  building  stone  seemed  hard  to  procure,  and  was 
imported  from  the  Bath  stone-quarries  near  Bristol,  but  Irish 
marbles  soon  won  a  name  beyond  Ireland.  Ralegh  had  long 
before  sent  over  specimens  to  make  a  chimney-piece  for  Cecil,1 
and  when  it  became  fashionable,  Anne  of  Denmark  sent  to 
Boyle  for  '  Ranse  stone  '  to  beautify  her  palace  at  Greenwich. 
Lord  Cork  commissioned  Randall  Clayton  to  see  twenty-five 
tons  of  this  red  marble  quarried  on  Little  Island  in  Cork 
Harbour  and  shipped  to  England.  It  may  be  interesting  to 
note  that  the  cost  of  quarrying  was  £6,  55.,  and  hauling  to  the 
seaside  was  charged  a  shilling  a  ton. 

Although  Lord  Cork  was  proud  of  his  orchards  and 
gardens,  no  new  crops  were  introduced  under  his  rule  into 
Munster,  unless  indeed  tobacco  may  be  reckoned  as  one  of 
his  ventures.  A  time-honoured  tradition  tells  that  Ralegh 

1  Pope  Hennessy's  Raleigh  in  Ireland. 


io6     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

planted  the  first  tobacco  plant  brought  to  Europe  in  his 
garden  at  Youghal,  and  Lord  Cork  continued  to  grow  it 
and  send  presents  of  the  home-grown  leaf  over  to  his  English 
friends.  Sir  Dudley  Carleton  wrote  in  1623  to  beg  his 
lordship  '  to  bestow  a  little  tobacco  upon  me,  if  you  have 
any  pure,  otherwise  not.'  Did  his  lordship  adulterate  his 
tobacco  ?  The  request  would  seem  too  brutally  frank  for 
that  to  be  the  case,  and  we  may  hope  that  Sir  Dudley  only 
disliked  some  special  mixtures. 

Boyle's  schemes  for  increasing  the  trade  of  Youghal  and 
his  own  income  were  endless,  and  he  was  ever  on  the  look-out 
to  find  artisans  and  skilled  craftsmen  whom  he  could  settle 
in  the  town  or  on  his  estate.  In  1 6 1 8  his  brother,  Dr.  John 
Boyle,  wrote  over  recommending  a  cooper  who  would  be 
useful  for  boat-building,  and  also  mentioning  a  Venetian  who 
wished  to  set  up  glass-works  in  the  south  of  Ireland. 
Possibly  the  latter  established  himself  in  Cork  under  Dr. 
John's  patronage,  as  that  was  the  principal  place  of  glass 
manufacture  in  Ireland  for  many  years. 

In  the  year  1618  Youghal  was  elevated  to  the  dignity 
of  a  staple  town,  receiving  the  exclusive  right  to  carry  on 
the  woollen  trade  with  Bristol,  Barnstaple,  Liverpool,  Chester, 
and  Milthrop  (possibly  Milford).  Boyle  is  usually  credited 
with  having  obtained  this  concession  for  the  town,  for  he 
had  agitated  in  1 6 1 6  l  to  procure  it,  saying  it  would  secure 
constant  work  for  the  poor  ;  but  further  experience  of  business 
had  made  him  something  of  a  free-trader,  and  far  from  assist- 
ing the  town  to  win  this  monopoly,  he  at  once  joined  with  the 
Lord  Deputy  and  the  principal  Munster  gentry,  Thomond, 
Aldworth,  Sir  E.  Harris,  and  Bishop  John  of  Cork,  to 
protest  that  this  establishment  of  the  staple  town  was  merely 

1  Caulfield's  Council  Book  of  Youghal. 


IN   A   SEAPORT  TOWN  107 

'a   hindrance  to    trade  and  a  vehicle  for  fraud   and  incon- 
venience.' l 

For  the  years  between  1610  and  1618  Boyle's  diary  is 
chiefly  a  record  of  land  purchases  and  a  trade  account-book. 
But  bookkeeping,  it  appears,  had  not  then  grown  into  a 
science,  and  the  diary  is  an  amazing  production  for  a  business 
man.  Bad  debts  are  jumbled  up  with  christenings,  speculations 
in  bar  iron  with  visits  from  distinguished  friends ;  and  timber- 
trade,  weddings,  goshawks,  and  glass-works  are  set  down  in 
such  admired  confusion  as  to  remind  one  of  the  classic  rhyme 
about 

4  Ships  and  shoes  and  sealing-wax, 
And  cabbages  and  kings.' 

It  might  be  expected  that  this  confusion  would  have  landed 
Richard  Boyle  in  the  bankruptcy  court,  but  his  dealings  with 
debtors'  prisons  were  happily  confined  to  getting  his  friends 
and  servants  out  of  them.  In  the  seventeenth  century,  smart 
people  were  arrested  for  debt  quite  as  naturally  as  in  the  days 
of  Rawdon  Crawley  or  Little  Dorrit.  When  Boyle  arrived  in 
Dublin  as  a  privy  councillor  in  1614,  he  found  McCarthy 
Reagh,  the  representative  of  the  kings  of  Munster,  in  prison, 
'  and  when  all  his  hundred  friends  that  were  in  the  city  refused 
to  free  him,  I,  like  a  kind  fool,  pitying  his  distress  and  im- 
prisonment, paid  £70,  i  os.  And  after  my  twenty-one  years 
forbearance  he  repaid  me  my  own  moneys  without  any  use 
or  consideration.' 

Boyle  soon  learned  to  be  more  prudent  in  his  loans  to 
Irish  gentlemen,  and  later  on,  when  his  son-in-law  begged  him 
to  free  The  M'Adam  Barry,  who  had  been  long  imprisoned  in 
London,  in  the  Counter  of  the  Poultry,  he  took  a  mortgage 

1  Cal.  Care<w  MSS.,  1618,  p.  424.. 


io8     LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

on  a  ploughland  at  Castle  Lyons  and  the  grant  of  the  advowson 
of  Rathcormac  as  security. 

But  to  his  own  relations  he  seems,  however,  constantly  to 
have  been  '  a  kind  fool,'  and  there  are  frequent  entries  such  as 
*  Relieved  my  cousin,  R.  Boyle,  out  of  prison.'  *  Sent  Joseph 
Boyle,  son  to  my  cousin  Richard  Boyle  the  bookbinder,  twenty 
shillings  and  released  him  out  of  prison,  for  which  I  paid  ^5 
and  gave  my  bill  for  other  ^5.'  Dick  Tynt,  the  son  of 
Spenser's  widow  by  her  third  husband,  was  never  out  of 
debt,  and  was  sometimes  clever  enough  to  get  his  rich  kins- 
man to  pay  his  tailor's  bill  twice  over,  and  pocket  the 
change  himself. 

M'Carthy  Reagh,  it  will  be  noticed,  repaid  his  debt 
'  without  any  use,'  an  expression  that  reminds  us  of  Shylock's 
'  usage  '  which  Antonio  contemptuously  called  '  interest.'  The 
whole  system  of  paying  interest  on  loans  and  of  conducting 
banking  operations  was  then  in  its  infancy,  but  the  growth  of 
trade  and  the  increase  of  luxury  in  the  seventeenth  century 
obliged  people  to  invent  ways  of  paying  debts  and  sending 
money  from  place  to  place  without  the  need  of  carrying  bags 
of  gold  through  perils  of  land  thieves  and  water  thieves. 

Boyle,  however,  had  so  many  calls  on  his  purse  that  he 
was  obliged  to  keep  a  good  deal  of  cash  in  hand.  Once 
when  leaving  home  for  Dublin,  he  put  ^1180  for  Munster 
expenses  '  in  the  till  of  the  iron  chest  in  the  inward  study '  ; 
and  he  was  proud  that  he  could  so  frequently  pay  down 
sterling  gold,  for  the  scarcity  of  coined  money  was  so  great 
that  payments  were  frequently  made  in  kind,  and  buying 
and  selling  was  very  often  a  matter  of  barter.  When  his 
brother-in-law,  Pierce  Power,  owed  money  for  wood,  Boyle 
accepted  instead  of  the  debt  'green  french  velvet  to  line  a 
cloak,  as  much  satin  as  should  make  a  doublet,  with  taffeta 


IN   A   SEAPORT   TOWN  109 

to  cut  it  on  and  buttons  thereof.'  In  1614  Boyle  sold  Ros- 
mayne  in  the  county  of  Limerick  to  his  other  brother-in-law, 
Sir  Thomas  Brown,  for  his  grey  horse  and  forty  barrels  of 
'  great  Bear '  or  barley,  and  the  next  year  he  paid  for  building 
a  castle  at  Balligoran  with  fowls,  and  a  large  flock  of  sheep  with 
five  English  rams.  When  the  sum  needed  was  too  large  to  be 
paid  in  live  stock,  he  usually  tried  to  pay  it  in  pipestaves  or 
bar  iron,  or  by  assigning  rents  due. 

Neighbours  soon  found  that  Boyle  was  a  convenient  banker, 
and  that  his  many  correspondents  over  sea  and  his  confidential 
servants  who  were  constantly  carrying  his  messages  to  and  fro 
gave  them  facilities  for  doing  business  unknown  before,  and 
made  use  of  him  accordingly.  In  1616,  for  example,  'Mr.  Ball 
delivered  me  without  receipt  of  any  money,  a  bill  of  exchange 
to  have  ^63  paid  in  London  to  my  brother  Fen  ton,  for  the 
use  of  my  Lord  Roche.  Donald  the  harper  carried  them.' 
This  Donal  Duff  O'Cahill  was  Queen  Anne's  Harper,  for 
times  had  changed  since  Spenser  called  all  Irish  bards  either 
spies  or  vagabonds  and  Philip  Sidney  said  they  had  sung  many 
a  man  to  death  with  their  biting  wit.  The  songs  without 
words  of  the  harpers  it  was  found  could  do  little  mischief,  and 
Irish  music  came  into  fashion  with  Irish  hawks  and  hounds, 
and  the  Earl  of  Cork  helped  his  own  blind  harper  to  a  new 
instrument. 

Donal  was  a  prosperous  person  and  did  a  good  deal  of 
business  with  Boyle,  making  money  in  his  native  land  as  well 
as  at  court.  At  one  time  he  is  set  down  as  borrowing  ^5, 
and  when  Boyle  was  in  London  in  1628  he  got  a  bill  of 
exchange  from  him  for  ^40  to  send  to  Mrs.  Donal  Duff  in 
Ireland.  In  1615  Donal  had  the  '  selling  of  the  sheryfwick 
of  Cork,'  which  Pierce  Power  bought  of  him  for  ,£80,  of 
course  through  the  medium  of  Boyle  ;  and  when  he  travelled 


no    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

from  one  country  to  the  other  he  seems  usually  to  have 
carried  gold  for  the  rich  man  of  Youghal.  Another  court 
official  who  made  use  of  Boyle's  experience  was  Archie 
Armstrong  the  king's  jester.  Archie  was  a  thrifty  and  canny 
Scot,  and  gave  Lord  Cork  £150  to  keep  for  him.  He  was 
over  in  Dublin  in  1635  looking  after  his  investments,  when 
the  Earl  repaid  him  his  money,  adding  £5  in  gold,  for  which 
he  wrote  penitently  '  God  forgive  me ! '  He  evidently  felt 
Archie  was  not  the  fool  in  that  transaction. 

Great  and  small  were  as  anxious  to  consult  Cork  on  money 
matters  as  they  are  to  make  interest  with  company  promoters 
nowadays.  Not  long  after  Archie  Armstrong  came  '  my 
noble  friend  the  Lord  President  of  Munster,'  to  whom  Cork 
lent  j£8oo  gratis,  on  a  mortgage  which  he  devoutly  hoped 
would  never  be  redeemed,  but  would  provide  land  for  the 
estates  of  his  fourth  son. 

Rich  as  Lord  Cork  was,  he  had  not  always  gold  in  hand 
for  his  own  needs,  and  had  in  his  turn  to  '  take  it  up '  from 
any  neighbour  who  had  it  by  him.  One  time  he  wrote  to 
authorise  his  kinsman  Sir  Allen  Apsley  to  pay  certain  London 
creditors  of  Sir  Walter  Butler  £176,  as  he  had  borrowed  that 
sum  from  Sir  Walter  to  lend  it  to  Captain  Button  that  he 
might  victual  a  King's  ship. 

For  it  was  not  only  private  persons  who  came  to  do 
business  with  Boyle.  His  sacred  majesty  King  James  was  so 
busy  heaping  wealth  on  his  favourites  that  he  occasionally 
forgot  to  victual  his  ships  or  clothe  his  soldiers.  One  captain 
of  a  foot  company  on  the  march  to  Dingle  had  actually  to 
pawn  his  own  clothes  in  Clonakilty,  that  he  might  buy  frieze 
stockings  and  brogues  for  his  bare-footed  soldiers,  and  Cork 
lent  him  £7  to  redeem  his  garments.  When  the  unlucky 
Cadiz  expedition  of  1625  landed  at  Kinsale  on  its  return 


IN   A   SEAPORT  TOWN  in 

home,  its  leader  Lord  Wimbledon  was  penniless,  and  Lord 
Cork  had  to  undertake  the  care  of  the  army,  lending  ^270  to 
pay  the  men  and  relieve  the  sick,  and  lodging  and  dieting  the 
ten  companies  among  his  tenants  for  three  months.1 

Six  of  the  officers  came  to  spend  Christmas  with  him,  but 
four  of  the  poor  gentlemen  fell  sick  and  had  to  be  nursed  at 
Lismore  for  nine  weeks,  and  when  they  left,  he  had  to  lend 
them  £90  to  carry  them  home. 

There  was  some  fear  of  less  welcome  visitors  two  years 
later,  when  it  was  thought  that  the  French  would  retaliate  for 
Buckingham's  vain  expedition  to  assist  the  Huguenots  of 
Rochelle  by  making  a  descent  on  Ireland,  and  the  President  of 
Munster  inspected  the  forts  of  Cork  and  Waterford,  and 
discovered  they  were  so  dilapidated  as  to  be  useless.  Naturally 
he  had  recourse  to  Boyle,  who  lent  ^500  for  the  repairs,  but 
his  Majesty  proved  to  be  an  even  worse  debtor  than  M'Carthy 
Reagh.  It  was  many  a  long  year  before  Boyle  saw  that  money 
again,  and  his  humble  petition  for  its  repayment  was  the 
beginning  of  all  the  troubles  that  darkened  his  later  life. 

King  James's  brother-in-law,  the  jovial  King  of  Denmark, 
was  of  a  more  grateful  disposition,  and  acknowledged  services 
done  by  Boyle  to  his  subjects  with  very  royal  liberality.  A 
Danish  ship,  the  Pearl,  was  driven  by  stress  of  weather  to  take 
refuge  in  Youghal  harbour,  and  would  not  have  reached  that 
shelter  but  for  the  courage  of  a  fisherman,  John  Griffin,  who 
risked  his  life  to  get  on  board  and  pilot  her  into  safety,  and 
had  his  deed  chronicled  in  the  Youghal  Council-book.  The 
ship  must  have  been  damaged  by  the  storm,  for  she  lay  at 
Youghal  for  thirteen  months  after,  and  her  owners  were  put 
to  straits,  for  they  feared  they  should  be  driven  to  break  the 
bulk  of  their  cargo  and  sell  their  goods  in  Ireland  below 

1  Smith,  ii.  60. 


ii2     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

their  value,  till  Boyle  came  to  the  rescue  and  lent  them 
£700,  and  they  went  on  their  way  rejoicing.  They  wrote 
home  to  tell  of  Irish  hospitality  ;  and  after  a  while  came 
a  letter  from  over  sea  from  the  King  of  Denmark  himself, 
thanking  the  good  men  of  Youghal  for  their  kindness  to  his 
subjects,  and  sending  a  hundred  pounds  in  money  for  the  town, 
and  to  Boyle  a  gold  chain  and  medal  bearing  his  Majesty's 
portrait.  The  mayor  returned  a  Latin  certificate  of  thanks,  and 
covenanted  to  relieve  any  Danish  subjects  who  should  present 
themselves  at  the  Youghal  poorhouse,1  and  Boyle  treasured 
that  medal  as  one  of  his  chief  jewels.  King  Charles  himself 
asked  to  see  it,  and  it  was  proudly  sent  over  to  England  for 
exhibition,  and  when  his  eldest  son  entered  public  life,  Boyle 
passed  on  the  medal  to  him  to  be  preserved  as  an  heirloom  in 
the  family. 

A  breath  from  the  sea  seems  to  blow  through  these  old 
Boyle  papers.  We  see  the  merchants  looking  over  their  bills  of 
lading  on  the  quay  ;  the  fine  gentlemen  from  England  in  their 
ruffs  and  satin  doublets  landing  to  pay  their  compliments  at 
the  College  House ;  the  fishermen  with  tidings  of  Algerine 
rovers  ;  and  Admiral  Button  spinning  yarns  of  icebergs  and 
the  North  West  Passage. 

But  it  is  not  only  the  bustle  of  commerce  that  fills  the 
records ;  the  mystery  of  the  sea  meets  us  too.  On  a  May 
morning  of  1623  a  sailor  tenant  of  Boyle's,  Thomas  Brien  by 
name,  came  to  him  with  tidings  of  O  Braseel,  as  he  called  it, 
that  earthly  paradise  '  incomparable  in  its  haze '  of  which  the 
old  bards  sang,  where  the  heroes  Oisin  and  Connla  dwelt  with 
their  fairy  brides  in  the  island  of  eternal  youth.  Legends  told 
that  St.  Brandan  the  navigator  had  landed  on  it,  and  in  more 
modern  times  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  Hy  Brasil  legends 

1  See  CaulfielcTs  Council  Book  of  Youghal. 


IN   A   SEAPORT  TOWN  113 

of  Galway  sailors  lured  Columbus  on  his  voyage  to  the 
western  lands ;  certain  it  is  that  Hy  Brasil  was  figured  as  an 
actual  island  on  some  seventeenth-century  maps.  But  the 
business-like  Earl  of  Cork  did  not  trouble  himself  much  about 
St.  Brandan  or  fairyland  ;  he  only  promised  the  sailor  a  reward 
if  he  could  bring  him  sufficient  proof  that  he  had  discovered 
and  landed  on  the  island,  before  the  next  Christmas  ;  and  he 
on  his  part  gave  the  Earl  forty  shillings  in  gold  as  a  pledge 
that  he  believed  in  his  own  yarn,  which  money  was  passed  on 
to  the  countess,  and  so  Brien  sailed  away  into  the  West,  and 
whether  he  came  back  or  not,  no  one  tells  us.  The  Earl  of 
Cork's  money  truly  could  buy  estates  in  Ireland,  but  fairy- 
land is  not  to  be  won  by  gold,  and  the  paradise  of  the  West 
is  still  the  freehold  of  poets  and  story-tellers  and  of  them 
alone. 

But  the  sailors  did  not  always  bring  tales  of  fairyland  to 
shore  ;  there  came  also  '  the  crying  of  a  sword  out  of  the  sea,' 
or  in  Boyle's  emphatic  and  prosaic  English,  '  news  that 
Redmond  Fitzjohn  of  Ballycrynnan  was  turned  pirate  for  the 
third  time,  God  damn  him.'  Indeed  turning  pirate  was  the 
most  natural  thing  in  the  world  for  people  who  lived  on  a 
barren  coast  cut  up  by  innumerable  convenient  bays.  Among 
the  labyrinth  of  western  islands,  and  among  the  wooded  creeks 
of  Cork  Harbour  itself,  a  navy  might  lie  hid  in  safety,  and 
pirates  flourished  there  in  the  seventeenth  century  as  smugglers 
did  in  the  eighteenth.  And  the  gentlefolk  found  it  as  difficult 
to  resist  doing  business  with  pirates  as  they  did  later  on  with 
smugglers.  When  there  were  no  shops  and  few  roads  it  was 
hard  to  refuse  luxuries  that  sailed  up  to  your  very  door ;  and 
so  the  pirates  were  one  day  the  scourges  of  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  the  next  its  tradesmen  and  purveyors. 

The  Hulls  were  themselves  not  quite  beyond  reproach, 

H 


ii4     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

although  Sir  William  wrote  to  Boyle  in  1610  from  Lem  Con 
with  all  the  dignity  of  conscious  rectitude  : — 

'  Here  is  Ellis  the  pirate  arrived  yesterday  as  I  hear  by 
Captain  Bishop.  The  men  were  drunk  at  Schull  Haven  all 
night  at  Gath  his  house,  and  their  boat  aground,  yet  none 
came  to  give  me  any  warning  ;  here  is  one  of  the  pirate's 
mind  dwells  on  my  land,  that  at  Sir  Thomas  Button's  being 
here  three  weeks  since  gave  notice  of  his  being  in  this  harbour, 
by  which  means  he  escaped.' 

But  it  was  rumoured  that  the  most  noted  pirate,  Campane, 
had  been  bold  enough  to  cast  anchor  in  the  harbour  of  Lem 
Con,  and  that  Sir  William  Hull  himself  had  bought  forty 
horse-loads  of  pepper  of  him  and  sent  it  off  to  Kinsale,  and 
also  knew  who  it  was  that  had  bought  a  chest  of  *  chenery 
roots '  at  five  shillings  a  pound.  Not  only  had  Mr.  Hull  of 
Clonakilty  bought  goods  which  the  carrier  of  the  town  con- 
veyed openly  home  for  him,  but  even  the  Lord  President  of 
Munster  had  been  among  the  customers.  But  then  Campane 
was  no  common  local  pirate  ;  he  was  a  Dutchman,  and  such 
a  distinguished  person  that  the  authorities  thought  it  worth 
while  to  make  terms  with  him,  and  even  to  secure  him  from 
arrest  for  a  time,  in  the  hope  that  he  might  mend  his  ways. 
In  1625  Lord  Deputy  Falkland  wrote  to  Sir  William  Hull  to 
say  that  Campane's  protection  would  not  be  renewed  if  he  only 
used  it  to  enable  himself  to  re  victual  his  ships  and  so  be  gone 
to  sea  to  seek  more  booty ;  but  if  he  would  divulge  where  he 
had  hidden  his  treasures,  and  would  deposit  £$oo  as  caution 
money  to  assure  the  Government  that  on  his  return  with  his 
wealth  he  would  pay  £10,000  for  a  pardon,  and  settle  as  a 
peaceful  subject  in  his  Majesty's  dominions,  he  might  have 
leave  to  trim  and  revictual  his  ships  in  a  Munster  harbour.1 

i  S1.  P.  Ire.,  4.8,  129,  228  ;  Col.  Dom.  S.  P.,  1628. 


IN   A  SEAPORT  TOWN  115 

Poor  Sir  Thomas  Button,  famous  sea-captain  though  he 
was,  had  a  hard  time  in  hunting  pirates  up  and  down  the  coasts 
of  Carbery.  When  he  wrote  in  1 6 1 6  to  wish  Boyle  '  all 
happiness  in  your  received  honour,  and  all  increase  of  it  to 
your  own  heart's  desire,'  he  soon  passed  on  to  describe  his  own 
ill-fortune  in  searching  for  Fleming,  a  noted  pirate.  He 
chased  the  fellow  off  Cape  Clear,  '  but  such  was  the  foulness 
of  my  shipp  as  that  I  could  not  do  any  goode  to  fetch  hym 
upp ' ;  but  he  trusted  he  had  at  least  frightened  him  away  from 
Ireland  towards  the  coast  of  Spain. 

Sir  Laurence  Parsons  also  had  his  reports  of  pirates  to  send 
to  Boyle  in  1620.  He  had  been  holding  an  Admiralty  Court 
at  Bantry,  and  had  ridden  home  by  way  of  Lem  Con,  Baltimore, 
Castlehaven,  and  so  by  Clonakilty  to  Bandon,  visiting  all  the 
seaports  as  he  went.  He  found  Bourk  the  pirate  had  been  in 
Berehaven,  where,  having  taken  victuals  and  necessaries,  he 
did  as  they  pretended  f  leave  in  requital  sixty-three  fardels  of 
sarsaparilla,'  but  Sir  Laurence,  finding  this  was  a  common  trick 
of  the  pirates,  confiscated  the  sarsaparilla  and  handed  it  over 
to  the  admiral.  Bourk  had  left  one  of  his  prizes  lying  for  a 
while  in  Bantry  Bay,  which  tempted  a  certain  Sir  Thomas 
Roper  to  try  to  seize  it,  so,  getting  together  thirty  gentle- 
men of  the  neighbourhood,  he  embarked  in  a  Flemish  ship 
that  happened  to  be  at  hand,  and  gaily  made  all  sail  for  the 
prize.  But  alas  for  their  hopes,  suddenly  round  the  headland 
appeared  Bourk,  and  while  they  were  yet  far  off  the  prize,  the 
pirate  was  beside  her  and  '  shot  off  all  his  ordnance  for  joy  at 
the  meeting.'  After  this  royal  salute,  poor  Sir  Thomas  and  his 
thirty  gentlemen  could  but  sail  back  again,  while  Bourk  carried 
off  his  prize  in  safety  to  Valentia  ;  where,  however,  Sir  Laurence 
thought  it  might  be  possible  to  lay  hold  on  him,  and  sent  mes- 
sengers off  in  all  haste  westward  to  look  out  for  the  vessels. 


n6     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

When  freebooters  could  laugh  at  admirals  and  knights,  it 
was  no  very  pleasant  matter  for  peaceable  people  to  adventure 
themselves  on  a  sea  voyage.  When  the  son  of  Lord  Deputy 
Chichester  was  coming  to  Ireland  in  1613,  Boyle  sent  a 
mariner  all  the  way  across  to  c  Paestown '  (probably  Padstow), 
to  warn  him  that  pirates  hovered  on  the  sea  to  inter- 
cept his  passage.  The  sailor  was  paid  ten  pounds  for  his 
voyage,  and  a  messenger  was  also  sent  off  to  the  Lord  Deputy 
at  a  cost  of  five  shillings.  In  1630  a  man  crossed  in  an  open 
boat  to  Holyhead  to  warn  Lord  Dungarvan  and  Lord  Kildare 
that  pirates  were  in  the  Channel,  the  same  doubtless  who 
snapped  up  all  Lord  Strafford's  baggage  shortly  after  ;  and 
Lord  Cork  himself  was  chased  into  Minehead  and  escaped 
with  difficulty. 

After  reading  of  such  adventures,  it  is  satisfactory  to  find 
that  at  a  jail  delivery  at  Cork  in  1625  'eight  arch  pirates' 
were  hanged ;  but  unfortunately  others  soon  took  their  place, 
for  the  King's  navy  was  too  weak  to  guard  the  seas. 

Troublesome  as  were  these  home-grown  water  thieves,  the 
Munster  shores  knew  far  fiercer  enemies.  The  Sallee  Rovers 
were  constantly  hovering  off  the  southern  coasts,1  awaiting 
their  chance  to  make  a  dash  on  some  fishing- village  and  carry 
Christians  away  to  slavery,  often,  it  is  said,  marching  their 
fettered  captives  across  France  to  re-embark  at  Marseilles, 
by  favour  of  the  Most  Christian  King.  The  guardships  did 
what  they  could,  and  at  the  news  of  danger  the  garrisons  of 
Kinsale  or  of  Castlehaven  hurried  to  the  spot  ;  but  the 
corsairs  were  no  laggards  in  their  work,  and  as  Davis  tells, 
when  they  sacked  Baltimore  and  the  countryside  was  roused, 

.  .  .  *  this  gallant  rides  from  distant  Bandon  town, 
Those  hookers  crossed  from  stormy  SchulJ,  that  skiff  from  Affadown, 

1  See  Strafford  Letters,  ii.  119. 


IN   A   SEAPORT   TOWN  117 

They  only  found  the  smoking  walls  by  neighbours'  blood  besprent, 
And  on  the  strewed  and  trampled  beach  awhile  they  wildly  went, 
Then  dashed  to  sea  and  passed  Cape  Clear,  and  saw  five  leagues  before 
The  pirate  galleys  vanishing  that  ravished  Baltimore.' 

In  this  case  of  Baltimore,  Boyle  was  convinced  that  the 
success  of  the  Rovers  was  due  to  the  slackness  of  Captain 
Hooke,  whose  guardship  was  at  Kinsale  ;  and  he  wrote  in 
great  anger  to  Dorchester,1  begging  him  to  make  the  English 
Consul  at  Algiers  interfere  on  behalf  of  these  unhappy  English 
and  Irish  carried  off  to  slavery,  and  in  the  end  the  greater 
number  of  them  were  restored  to  liberty. 

Sometimes  a  message  found  its  way  home  from  Christian 
captives,  for  the  Corsairs  were  men  of  business  and  ready 
enough  to  put  their  prisoners  to  ransom  if  they  could  get  a 
proper  price.  One  of  these  pathetic  letters  came  from 
'  Morockoe '  to  entreat  Boyle's  help.  It  is  endorsed  '  Sept. 
1622.  From  Redmond  Fitzjohn  of  Ballycrynnan  his  brother 
Gerald  who  is  a  captive  at  Morockoe.'  It  is  more  vivid  to 
give  the  letter  in  the  original  spelling  : — 

*  RIGHT  HONNORABLE  AND  WORDYE  GOOD  LORD, — far  to 
tedious,  I  dare  not  write  the  third  part  of  my  miserie  :  sence  I 
came  out  of  lerland  mee  brother  being  kild  by  the  turkes  men 
of  warre  the  I3th  of  January  being  the  yeare  of  the  Lord  1617, 
and  after  him  I  was  cast  awaie  uppon  the  coaste  of  Barbaric 
with  the  rest  of  his  comppany  where  wee  weare  made  Captives 
in  the  hands  of  infidels  and  barbrous  nation  and  soe  many 
inconveniences  hanginge  uppon  us  as  to  reckon  them  all  were 
infinite  and  to  taste  but  one  of  them  intollerable. 

'  I  have  written  often  time  to  your  Lordshipp  but  never 
could  receive  an  answer,  but  onlie  Sir  James  Gooffe  howes 
dwelling  place  is  within  tree  miles  to  Clonmell,  beinge  then 

1   Cal.  S.  P.  Ire.,  1631-2. 


n8     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

in  London  with  the  Earle  of  Clanrickard  and  our  letters 
beinge  come  to  his  hands,  and  finding  the  opportunities  of  a 
shipp  bound  hither  within  4  daies  after  he  could  not  omite  to 
salute  and  withal  comforte  our  distressed  state  with  his  affec- 
tionate lines  and  to  advertise  us  of  our  letters  that  he  would 
deliver  them  according  to  their  several  direxions.  Now  the 
shipp  being  uppon  this  Barbrie  coaste  and  bound  home  I 
would  not  omite  this  time  but  put  your  Lordship  in  remem- 
brance of  my  [me]  and  alsoe  for  the  afection  you  bore  to  my 
father  and  to  my  brother  after  mee  fathers  death,  and  now 
your  vassals.  I  though  leaste  wordye  yet  most  willinge  am 
come  to  prefer  myself  as  a  bound  man  unto  your  Lordship, 
for  all  my  trust  is  in  you  onlie  under  God,  to  have  pitie 
uppon  my  poore  estate  and  distressed  miserye. 

'  Therefore  I  beseeche  your  Lordship  whatever  order  you 
wil  take  for  my,  advertise  Sir  James  Gooff  off  it ;  for  he 
knows  the  English  merchants  that  are  heere  and  alsoe  the 
Lundowners  [?  Londoners]  that  trafiques  uppon  this  Barbyre 
coaste.  As  for  my  ransome  it  will  come  neere  hand  ^200 
little  more  or  less.  I  need  not  make  many  words,  for  your 
Lordship  knows  mee  meaninge.  Soe  I  reste  ffrom  Morocus 
the  first  of  September  1622.  Your  ffaithful  and  ever  servantt 
most  obedient  to  command  GERALD  FITZGERALD.' 

It  was  an  irony  of  fate  that  threw  the  luckless  Gerald  into 
the  hands  of  the  Corsairs,  for  his  brother  Redmond  Fitzjohn 
Fitzgerald  was  the  very  man  at  whom  Boyle  swore  so  heartily 
for  turning  pirate  three  times  over.  These  Ballycrynnan  Fitz- 
geralds  must  have  been  men  of  good  standing  for  all  their 
wild  fortunes,  for  that  masterful  Lady  Honora  Fitzgerald, 
who  bullied  John  Fitzgerald  of  Camphire,  recognised  Redmond 
as  a  kindred  spirit  and  gave  him  a  brass  gun,  a  minion  as  it 


IN   A  SEAPORT  TOWN  119 

was  called,  for  his  ship.  The  minion  Redmond  sold  to  Boyle, 
but  in  1617  he  was  busy  fitting  out  his  ship  afresh  by  the 
help  of  Sir  Robert  Tynt  of  Youghal,  who  went  surety  for  his 
expenses.  At  this  time  he  had  only  been  twice  a  pirate,  and 
he  gave  out  that  he  was  preparing  to  embark  on  a  more 
heroic  adventure,  as  one  of  the  little  fleet  that  sailed  from 
Kinsale  on  Ralegh's  last  Guiana  voyage. 

For  Munster  was  the  last  land  to  wish  Ralegh  good  speed 
on  his  fatal  Guiana  voyage,  when  the  eagle  was  let  out  of  his 
cage  in  the  Tower  for  one  flight  more,  not  for  freedom,  but 
that  the  daws  might  have  the  better  chance  to  harry  him  to 
death.  But  Ralegh's  friends  did  not  suspect  the  royal 
treachery  that  was  betraying  him  to  the  Spaniards,  and  wel- 
comed him  back  to  active  life  with  boundless  hopes.  Boyle 
wrote  to  his  merchant  cousin  Barsie  of  Plymouth  to  send 
thirty-two  gallons  of  aquavitae  on  board  Sir  Walter's  ship, 
and  Sir  Allen  Apsley,  Sir  Walter's  friendly  jailer,  announced 
his  prisoner's  departure  in  a  letter  to  Boyle  in  April,  saying 
that  '  Sir  Walter  Rawley,  not  without  great  opposition,  is  at 
last  gone  to  Plymouth  with  some  eight  shippes.'  At  Plymouth 
were  further  delays,  and  it  was  not  till  July  that  Lord  Cork's 
friend  Mr.  Robert  Waller  could  write  that  Sir  Walter 
'departed  from  Plymouth  the  I2th  of  this  month,  having 
first  cast  off  sundry  of  his  meaner  followers  who  in  their 
returning,  having  no  horses  of  their  own,  take  other  men's. 
It  will  cost  the  King  some  charge  in  buying  halters  to  save 
them  from  drowning  ! ' 

The  next  tidings  of  the  expedition  came  from  Sir  Walter 
himself.  Worn  with  often  reading  and  stained  with  damp, 
the  letter  was  faithfully  preserved,  and  hard  as  they  are  to 
decipher,  the  old  hero's  words  are  worth  the  keeping.  He 
dated  his  letter  from  Mr.  Thomas  Fitzgerald's  mansion  at 


iio    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Rostellan.  There  from  the  terraced  garden  he  could  look 
out  over  Cork  Harbour  and  recall  old  days  and  old  hopes  at 
the  sight  of  Drake's  Pool,  where  his  former  comrade  had  lain 

in  ambush  for  the  Spanish  fleet. 

'July  29,  1617. 

'  MY  VERY  GOOD  LORD, — After  as  many  crosses  [on  land] 
and  sea  as  ever  man  was  subject  unto  [I  am]  by  extremity  of 
weather  driven  into  [the  harbour]  of  Cork  :  I  was  first  forced 
into  Plym[outh  and]  from  the  French  coast  into  Falmouth, 
with  a  violent  storm  on  Midsumm[er  eve]  and  midsummer 
day.  My  smaller  ship  [not  being  able  to]  bear  it  out  I  put 
into  this  port  [of  Kin]sale,  not  hearing  yet  any  news  of  [the 
ship]  in  which  I  had  bestowed  a  great  p[art  of  my]  provisions. 
This  hard  beginning  [nevertheless],  God  I  trust  will  bless  us 
with  a  [good  wind].  If  I  had  horses  I  would  have  [waited 
upon  your  Lord]ship,  but  not  having  my  own,  I  have  sent 
Manus  Maguire,  [and  perhaps  your]  Lordship  will  do  me  the 
favour  [to  oblige]  me  with  a  few  hackneys.  I  [shall  make] 
bold  with  Mr.  Thomas  Fitzgerald  to  Cloyne  on  Tuesday 
morning  [with  three]  or  four  gentlemen  and  a  couple  of 
hawks.  This  much  I  make  bold  with  [your  Lordship],  if 
God  bless  me  with  good  success  [in  these  undertakings,  being 
certain  and  well,  [I  will]  then  acknowledge  your  Lordship's 
favour  [or]  perish,  for  there  is  no  middle  course  but  perish 
or  prosper.  I  shall  then  entreat  my  [messenger]  to  give 
your  Lordship  thanks  for  [all],  and  ever  remain  your 
Lordship's  to  be .' * 

That  day's  hawking  over  Cloyne  meadows  and  marshes, 
the  ride  to  Youghal  across  the  country  where  he  had  fought 
more  than  thirty  years  before,  when  all  the  world  was  young 
and  he  was  one  of  Spenser's  knights  fighting  for  the  glory  of 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  2. 85. 


IN  A   SEAPORT  TOWN  121 

the  Fairy  Queen,  the  talk  over  his  pipe  under  the  yew  arbour 
in  his  old  home,  where  now  Sir  Laurence  Parsons  lived,  may 
have  been  a  fleeting  St.  Luke's  summer  in  Ralegh's  life.  For 
a  moment,  among  old  friends,  on  the  soil  that  had  seen  his 
victories,  he  may  have  forgotten  the  long  years  of  prison  that 
lay  between  those  days  when  he  won  his  Irish  grants  and  the 
world  was  at  his  feet,  and  to-day,  when  old  and  broken,  he 
knew  there  was  nothing  for  him  '  but  to  perish  or  prosper.' 

One  day  he  spent  in  riding  over  to  Mogeeley  Castle  to 
endeavour  to  end  that  long  lawsuit  with  Mr.  Pyne  which  had 
begun  in  the  early  days  of  the  Munster  settlement,  and  had 
passed  on  to  Boyle  with  the  rest  of  Ralegh's  Irish  possessions. 
There  in  the  garden  at  Mogeeley,  Ralegh  and  one  of  his 
officers,  Captain  Kemys,  talked  the  matter  over,  and  Mr. 
Pyne  endeavoured  to  make  Ralegh  sign  an  acknowledgment 
of  the  genuineness  of  the  lease  granting  him  Mogeeley  for 
eighty-eight  years.  This  Ralegh  absolutely  refused  to  do, 
but  it  is  possible  that  Pyne  himself  was  deceived  about  the 
lease,  for  the  document  eventually  proved  to  be  one  of  the 
productions  of  that  accomplished  forger,  Jonn  Mears.  Captain 
Kemys  supported  Ralegh's  assertion  that  he  had  never  signed 
such  a  lease,  and  as  Mr.  Pyne  persisted  in  considering  it 
genuine,  the  interview  came  to  nothing.1 

The  night  before  his  execution  Ralegh,  weary  of  the 
quarrels  and  pettinesses  of  life,  relented  somewhat  even 
towards  Pyne,  and  wrote  :  '  There  is  a  lease  in  controversy 
between  the  Lord  Boyle  and  one  Henry  Pyne  of  the  castle 
and  lands  of  Mogeeley,  and  although  I  did  write  something 
at  my  going  from  Ireland  towards  Guiana  to  the  prejudice  of 
Pyne's  lease,  yet  since  that  time,  better  bethinking  myself,  I 
desire  that  the  opinion  which  I  gave  may  be  no  evidence  in 

1  L.  P.,  i.  June  1617. 


122     LIFE  OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

law  against  Pyne,  but  that  it  may  be  left  to  the  proof  on 
both  sides.' l  His  broken  spirit  cared  no  longer  to  detect 
and  put  to  shame  the  forger,  he  desired  to  put  it  all  away : 
'  from  this  and  all  I  would  begone.' 

But  on  that  summer  day  in  1617  when  he  walked  with 
Boyle  round  the  new-built  walls  of  Youghal  and  saw  his  old 
dreams  realised,  and  the  English  traders  walking  on  the  quay 
and  English  cattle  grazing  in  the  new  parks,  his  busy  brain 
began  to  weave  schemes  as  of  old,  and  the  friends  agreed  on  a 
partnership  to  work  the  copper-mines  of  Ballygarron,  and  to 
send  specimens  of  the  ore  to  London  to  be  tested  by  Sir 
Walter's  assayer. 

It  must  have  been  strange  for  him  to  see  how  Boyle  had 
more  than  carried  out  his  own  projects.  As  he  turned  once 
more  to  the  westward,  and  looked  back  at  his  friend,  he 
might,  like  Ulysses,  have  said  of  him  : — 

*  Well  loved  of  me,  discerning  to  fulfil 
This  labour,  by  slow  prudence  to  make  mild 
A  rugged  people,  and  through  soft  degrees 
Subdue  them  to  the  useful  and  the  good. 
Most  blameless  is  he,  centred  in  the  sphere 
Of  common  duties  .  .  . 
He  works  his  work,  I  mine  .  .  . 
.   .  .  my  purpose  holds 
To  sail  beyond  the  sunset  and  the  baths 
Of  all  the  western  stars  .  .  .' 

Before  Ralegh  sailed  he  wrote  generous  words  of  approval 
of  these  '  common  duties.'  He  told  Boyle  :  '  I  have  written 
to  my  honourable  friends  how  much  I  am  indebted  to  your 
Lordship,  and  withal  what  service  you  have  done  the  State  in 
strengthening  this  part  of  the  Kingdom.' 

Lord  Cork  lent  some  money  to  a  couple  of  the  officers 

1  Edwards's  Life  of  Raleigh,  ii.  4.93. 


IN   A   SEAPORT   TOWN  123 

before  they  left,  and  a  hundred  pounds  to  Sir  Walter  that  he 
had  to  borrow  himself  from  Sir  Laurence  Parsons.  He  also 
sent  six  bars  of  Spanish  iron  and  a  hogshead  of  salmon  on  board 
'  as  a  guyft.'  That,  however,  was  but  a  small  part  of  Boyle's 
contribution  to  the  enterprise  ;  he  told  Carew  Ralegh  after- 
wards1 that  he  had  supplied  Sir  Walter  with  £350  in  ready 
money,  besides  furnishing  him  with  oxen,  biscuit,  beer,  wine, 
and  other  necessaries.  The  principal  gentlemen  of  Munster, 
Lord  Roche,  Lord  Barry,  and  many  more,  gathered  at  dinner 
at  Sir  Randall  Clayton's  to  bid  Ralegh  farewell.  At  dinner 
Ralegh  let  fall  some  words,  as  though  he  was  not  fully 
furnished  for  this  voyage,  which  Lord  Cork  observing,  im- 
mediately procured  him  a  hundred  French  crowns,  which  he 
knew  would  be  current  money  in  any  place  where  he  should  put 
in  to  water  or  victual.  After  dinner  Lord  Cork  withdrew  with 
him  to  a  window,  and  there  offered  him  £100  more,  telling 
him  he  feared  from  his  discourse  that  he  was  not  sufficiently 
furnished  with  money  for  his  voyage,  and  thereupon  made 
him  this  offer,  which  he  refused,  protesting  that  all  his  defects 
were  supplied  by  Lord  Cork  beyond  his  hope  or  expectation  ; 
adding  that  if  he  was  driven  into  any  harbour  he  had  jewels 
that  he  would  sell  rather  than  take  any  more  money  from 
him.  Upon  this  he  called  to  him  the  Lord  Barry,  the  Lord 
Roche,  his  son,  Mr.  Walter  Ralegh,  Captain  Whitney,  and 
several  others  who  dined  there,  and  taking  his  son  by  the 
hand  told  him  and  the  other  gentlemen  how  Cork  had  kept 
a  continual  open  house  for  three  weeks  to  entertain  him 
and  all  his  company,  that  he  had  supplied  his  ships  with 
several  kinds  of  provisions  and  with  £350  in  ready  money, 
and  had  given  money  to  most  of  the  captains  of  his  fleet,  and 
that  he  would  now  press  j£ioo  more  on  him  which  he  did 

1  See  Boyle's  letter,  printed  in  Smith,  i.  85. 


I24 

not  want  :  and  addressing  himself  to  his  son,  he  said  :  *  Wat, 
you  see  how  nobly  my  Lord  Boyle  hath  entertained  me  and 
my  friends  ;  and  therefore  I  charge  you  on  my  blessing  if  it 
please  God  you  outlive  me  and  return,  that  you  never  question 
my  Lord  Boyle  for  anything  that  I  have  sold  him ;  for  if  he 
had  not  bought  my  Irish  land,  it  would  have  fallen  to  the 
Crown  and  then  one  Scot  or  another  would  have  begged  it, 
from  whom  neither  I  nor  mine  should  have  anything  for  it, 
nor  such  courtesies  as  now  I  have  received.'  And  thereupon 
Boyle  accompanied  him  to  the  boat,  where,  at  taking  leave, 
Sir  Walter  repeated  all  he  had  before  said  of  the  earl's  civili- 
ties. 'And  this,'  said  Lord  Cork,  'was  the  last  time  I  ever 
saw  him.' 

So  on  the  loth  of  August  his  friends  saw  him  vanish 
across  the  Western  Ocean.  Sad  to  confess,  Redmond 
Fitzjohn  of  Ballycrynnan  after  all  did  not  make  one  of 
that  heroic  venture.  He  found  more  congenial  business 
nearer  home,  and  the  next  November  Boyle  was  shaken  out 
of  his  usual  dignity  by  finding  the  faithless  Fitzgerald  had 
turned  pirate  the  third  time.  Whether  Redmond  Fitzjohn 
lived  to  be  hanged,  or  settled  down  like  the  greater  pirate 
Campane  as  a  peaceful  subject,  does  not  appear  ;  he  vanishes 
from  Boyle's  diary  and  from  our  story  in  that  eventful 
year  1617. 

Nearly  a  year  did  Ralegh's  Irish  friends  wait  for  news, 
and  then  in  May  1 6 1 8  Lord  Deputy  St.  John  wrote  to  tell 
Carew  that  Ralegh  had  put  into  Kinsale  in  March  last, 
where  he  had  found  Kemys,  Pennington,  and  King,  the 
captains  who  had  deserted  him,  with  their  ships ;  and  the 
Lord  Deputy  had  at  once  sent  directions  to  the  Earl  of 
Thomond  to  secure  those  mutineers.  He  adds  that  he 
heard  that  Sir  Walter  was  going  on  to  Youghal  Harbour, 


IN   A   SEAPORT  TOWN  125 

and  ends,  f  I  am  extremely  sorry  for  his  ill  success  by  the 
failure  and  mutiny  of  those  that  ought  rather  to  have  died 
than  left  him.' l 

Boyle  mentions  that  he  received  '  letters  from  Sir  Walter 
Ralegh  of  his  arrival  at  Kinsale,'  and  that  Captain  Pennington, 
who  perhaps  was  detained  in  custody,  borrowed  fifty  pounds  ; 
but  of  the  leader  of  the  expedition  is  no  further  word  till 
October  29,  when  the  short  sad  entry  stands,  'Sir  Walter 
Ralegh  beheaded  at  Westminster.' 

But  he  was  not  forgotten.  The  lawsuit  with  Lady  Ralegh 
did  not  touch  Boyle's  memory  of  his  old  friend.  Again  and 
again  come  mention  of  gifts  given  for  Sir  Walter's  sake. 
'  1641.  Gave  old  Mr.  Shelbury  forty  shillings,  that  was  in 
want,  having  been  solicitor  to  Sir  Walter  Ralegh.'  '  Enter- 
tained Captain  Shelbury,  he  being  destitute  here  in  Dublin 
and  being  effectually  entreated  by  his  father,  an  ancient 
follower  of  my  dear  and  worthy  friend  Sir  Walter  Ralegh.' 
'  Sir  Walter  Ralegh's  tobacco '  was  a  specially  precious  gift 
to  be  sent  over  to  cousins  in  England  ;  '  Sir  Walter  Ralegh's 
staff'  was  given  by  Boyle  as  a  relic  to  the  Lord  Chief  Justice 
of  Ireland,  Sir  William  Jones  ;  and  '  Sir  Walter  Ralegh's 
stone '  was  set  in  the  jewel  the  Earl  of  Cork  wore  on  the 
most  stately  occasions  and  bequeathed  with  special  directions 
in  his  will  to  his  revered  friend  the  great  Archbishop  Ussher. 
Sir  Walter  made  his  venture  and  paid  the  forfeit  of  his  failure 
with  his  life,  but  for  Boyle,  as  for  us,  Youghal  will  ever  be 
haunted  by  the  memory  of  him — 

*  Made  weak  by  time  and  fate,  but  strong  in  will 
To  strive,  to  seek,  to  find,  and  not  to  yield.' 

1  Cat.  Carenu  MSS.,  1618,  p.  365. 


CHAPTER    VIII 
A    MUNSTER    MANSION 

*  Flowers  in  the  garden,  meat  in  the  hall, 
A  bin  of  wine,  a  spice  of  wit, 
A  house  with  lawns  enclosing  it, 
A  living  river  by  the  door.' 

R.  L.  STEVENSON. 

WHEN  Boyle  acquired  Lismore  with  the  rest  of  the  Ralegh 
property  the  castle  was  in  a  sad  state  of  ruin,  and  for  some 
years  he  did  not  attempt  to  live  there.  But  in  1614  he  began 
to  set  it  in  order,  and  a  stone-cutter  agreed  to  c  make  and 
carve  four  arms  and  crests  with  the  borders  in  freestone,  one 
at  my  gallery  window,  one  at  my  schoolhouse,  one  at  my 
almshouse,  and  another  at  my  house  at  Lismore  for  ^7,  los. 
with  meat,  drink,  and  lodging  at  Lismore.'  The  building 
and  repairing  at  Lismore  was  never  ending.  Boyle  loved 
bricks  and  mortar.  '  Two  glasurs '  were  paid  for  putting 
the  castle  staircase  and  the  schoolhouse  '  into  colours  ' ;  and  in 
1622  he  agreed  with  the  plasterer  'to  ceil  with  fret  work 
my  study,  my  bedchamber  and  the  nursery  at  Lismore,  and 
to  wash  them  with  Spanish  white.'  There  is  no  account  of 
an  entire  rebuilding,  but  one  time  the  park  wall  is  built,  at 
another  a  tower  for  a  water-mill,  and  later  on  1061  feet  of 
terrace  were  laid  out  with  paving-stones,  at  fivepence  a  foot. 

The  wars  have  left  little  of  the  castle  of  which  the  first 
Earl  of  Cork  was  so  proud,  but  the  unequalled  position  is 
unchanged,  and  the  great  drawing-room  still  boasts  the  view 


126 


A   MUNSTER  MANSION  127 

that  made  the  second  King  James  start  back  in  affright  when 
he  looked  from  the  window  and  saw  the  precipice  fall  plumb 
from  his  feet  to  the  swirling  stream  of  the  Blackwater  far 
below  ;  across  the  river  rise  undulating  slopes  of  rich  pasture- 
land,  and  behind  them  the  range  of  the  Knockmeldown 
Mountains,  where  Boyle  and  his  sons  hunted  the  wolf  and 
the  red  deer,  stands  out  bold  against  the  sky. 

As  time  went  on  the  visits  of  the  Boyle  family  to  Lismore 
grew  more  frequent  and  lasted  longer,  till  at  last  it  became 
their  real  Munster  home,  and  the  College  House  was  only 
used  when  business  or  a  journey  to  England  made  it  con- 
venient to  stop  for  a  night  in  Youghal. 

The  inside  of  Lismore  must  have  been  as  beautiful  as 
the  exterior.  One  suite  of  furniture  consisting  of  two  large 
chairs,  two  high  stools,  and  two  low  stools,  were  of  crimson 
velvet  fringed  with  silver  and  silk,  and  another  set  were  of 
red,  embroidered  in  black  velvet.  There  were  gilt  bedsteads 
and  quilts  of  needlework  or  of  Indian  embroidery.  The 
dining-room  walls  were  hung  with  tapestry,  on  the  floor 
was  a  '  foot  Turkey  carpet,'  and  the  window  seats  were 
covered  with  velvet  cushions.  The  dinner-table  was  loaded 
with  plate,  but  the  amount  of  silver  that  furnished  the  house 
and  even  was  used  for  bedroom  ewers  and  'basons  was  not 
so  extravagant  as  it  would  at  first  appear  ;  the  masses  of  plate 
accumulated  in  every  great  house  were  a  convenient  fashion 
of  hoarding  the  precious  metal  till  the  day  of  need,  when  it 
could  be  melted  into  ready  money  with  little  trouble.  Before 
Boyle  died  most  of  his  silver  dishes  and  saltcellars  were 
riding  on  horseback  in  the  service  of  the  country.  But  in 
the  piping  times  of  peace  all  the  sideboards  of  Lismore 
glittered  with  plate,  which  splendour  nearly  cost  Lady  Boyle 
dear.  For  one  morning,  descending  from  her  stately  gilded 


128     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF    CORK 

bedstead,  and  '  resting  on  a  bedstaff,'  it  broke,  and  she  fell 
down  upon  the  silver  dishes  and  cut  her  knee  so  badly  that 
a  surgeon  had  to  be  called  in. 

Antiquarians  are  disagreed  as  to  what  a  bedstaff  exactly 
was,  save  that  it  was  an  article  in  constant  use  and  constantly 
spoken  of.  Some  authorities  think  it  was  used  for  beating 
up  the  feather  beds  and  smoothing  the  bedcovers,  so  it  is 
interesting  to  find  that  Lady  Boyle  evidently  used  hers  as  a 
climbing  pole. 

When  we  are  investigating  the  ways  of  the  household  at 
Lismore  it  is  curious  to  note  who  composed  the  '  family '  of 
great  folk  in  those  days.  It  would  seem  as  if  the  social  layers 
were  not  divided  as  they  are  to-day :  positions  were  held  then 
by  those  of  gentle  blood  which  our  new  lady  helps  would 
hardly  take,  and  upper  servants  were  more  often  than  not 
poor  relations  of  the  master  of  the  house.  Of  course  the 
Countess's  gentlewomen  were  something  of  ladies-in-waiting, 
and  Lord  Cork's  confidential  '  servants '  were  more  or  less 
private  secretaries.  But  they  had  to  know  and  keep  their 
proper  place,  and  Cousin  James  Tompkyns,  when  he  sent  over 
his  wife's  kinswoman,  Letitia  Hopwood,  to  enter  the  Earl's 
household,  wrote  hoping  she  would  prove  '  dutiful  and  service- 
able,' while  to  make  Letitia  the  more  welcome  she  carried 
with  her  from  Warrington  twelve  cheeses. 

The  Earl  of  Cork  constantly  found  situations  in  his  family 
for  his  cousins,  but  married  off  *  my  wyffs  womon '  or  '  my 
oulde  servant '  with  equal  satisfaction  whether  they  were  cousin 
or  no.  Cousin  Roger  Vaughan  of  Mocas  in  Herefordshire 
sent  his  son  over  to  service  at  Lismore,  and  thither  also  came 
Cousin  Epinetus  Howard,  who,  though  he  only  spent  the 
summer  in  Ireland,  received  ten  pounds  in  gold  for  his 
services.  Those  two  did  not  remain  long  enough  to  have 


A   MUNSTER   MANSION  129 

their  marriages  arranged,  but  '  my  cousin  Naylor,  Dean  of 
Lismore,'  '  was  married  in  my  house  at  Dublin  to  Anne 
Mansfield  my  wife's  gentlewoman  whom  I  gave  in  marriage.' 

The  Earl  did  not  let  the  brides  go  empty-handed  from  his 
house.  In  1628,  'My  wife's  woman  Mrs.  Mary  Evesham, 
was  contracted  to  Mr.  John  Ward  of  Dublin  by  my  cousin 
Robert  Naylor  my  chaplain,  in  the  nursery  of  Lismore,  in 
the  presence  of  myself,  my  wife,  my  son,  and  Mr.  Whalley, 
and  in  the  presence  of  them  all  I  gave  her  jCioo  in  gold 
which  she  presently  gave  her  new  betrothed  husband.'  The 
same  gift  was  presented  to  a  young  lady  who  made  a  better 
match.  'June,  1633.  This  day  at  Chichester  House,  Sir 
Richard  Southwell  contracted  to  Mrs.  Ann  Neville,  my 
daughter  the  Countess  of  Kildare's  gentlewoman,  and  I  gave 
her  of  my  bounty  £100  in  gold  in  a  fine  needlework  purse 
toward  her  preferment,  and  the  Earl  of  Kildare  hath  promised 
Sir  Richard  another  £200  with  her.' 

It  was  necessary  to  import  attendants  who  had  some 
pretensions  to  birth  and  breeding  to  fill  posts  of  trust,  for 
some  of  the  wild  Irish  servants  were  very  wild  indeed,  and 
the  Earl  had  to  make  a  bond  of  ^200  for  his  servant 
Donough  M'Teague  Carthy,  '  if  he  shall  be  attainted  for  the 
treasonable  words  he  spake  against  his  Sacred  Majesty.' 
It  is  so  improbable  that  the  Earl  of  Cork  should  shelter  a 
traitor  that  we  must  needs  believe  Donough  M'Teague  Carthy 
had  been  very  drunk  and  then  spake  unadvisedly  with  his  lips. 

One  servant  was  always  faithful,  and  that  was  old  Davy 
Gibbons,  the  footman  or  messenger,  who  was  rewarded  for 
a  service  of  thirty  years  with  a  lease  of  lands  in  Waterford, 
rent  free,  but  for  a  fat  capon  to  be  paid  at  Christmas,  and 
a  pair  of  gilt  spurs  paid  every  New  Year's  Day,  himself  or 
his  heirs-male  putting  them  on.  In  the  Earl's  last  will  he 

i 


130     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

added  a  legacy  of  £10  to  stock  the  farm,  and  commanded 
his  heir  to  see  that  David  was  not  disturbed  in  the  enjoy- 
ment of  it.  Another  old  servant,  William  Chettle,  *  my 
honest  servant,'  was  given  £20  a.  year  out  of  Powlmore  in 
the  barony  of  Inchiquin,  f  and  as  an  addition  for  his  better 
maintenance  during  his  life,  I  have  given  him  a  bond  wherein 
Arthur  Freke  and  Lieut.  James  Finch  are,  for  arrears  of 
rent  on  his  farm,  bound  to  pay  him  £195  on  Midsummer 
day  next.'  Chettle  also  came  in  for  presents  of  clothes ; 
one  New  Year's  Day  he  received  'a  new  cloak  that  I 
had  never  worne,  of  London  Russet,  lined  throughout  with 
black  velvet.' 

Those  were  the  days  when  it  was  an  honour  to  a  gentleman 
to  wear  the  clothes  of  any  one  above  him  in  rank,  and  when 
King  James  showed  his  appreciation  of  the  famous  Cotteswold 
games  by  sending  to  their  founder  Mr.  Dover,  a  man  of  good 
position  and  fortune,  a  suit  of  his  own  clothes  to  wear  at  the 
festivity.  As  Lord  Cork's  '  servants '  were  very  different 
people  from  the  '  twenty  old  fellows  with  blue  coats  and 
badges '  kept  by  the  old  Courtier  of  the  Queen  in  the  ballad, 
so  the  Lismore  '  servants,'  instead  of  blue  coats,  wore  the 
Earl's  gayest  cast-off  garments,  and  often  were  given  clothes 
and  doublets  he  had  never  put  on.  John  Eddow  was  given 
a  French  green  satin  doublet  with  points  of  gold  and  green 
silk,  a  cassock  and  green  silk  lace  suitable,  and  John  Narroon 
of  Glannabwy  was  given  a  tawny  satin  doublet  and  breeches 
and  girdle  suitable. 

The  supplies  for  the  great  household  at  Lismore  were 
naturally  drawn  chiefly  from  the  Earl's  own  farms  and  gardens, 
and  not  content  with  smoked  fish  and  barrelled  cockles  from 
his  fisheries  at  Crookhaven  and  Ardmore,  he  imported  fresh- 
water fish  into  Ireland,  and  soon  could  stock  his  friends'  ponds 


A   MUNSTER   MANSION  131 

as  well  as  his  own.1  In  1630,  eight  carp  and  thirty  tench 
were  sent  over  from  the  Low  Countries  to  him;  many  died 
by  the  way,  but  when  we  consider  the  rate  at  which  journeys 
were  accomplished  in  those  days  of  waggons  and  packhorses, 
we  can  only  marvel  that  any  survived.  Yet  in  time  the 
Earl's  fish-pools  were  filled,  and  four  years  later  he  was  able 
to  send  to  the  Lord  President  of  Munster  twenty  young 
carp  and  ten  tench. 

The  importation  and  breeding  of  all  sorts  of  game  and  farm 
stock  was  a  matter  of  the  deepest  interest  to  Lord  Cork.  The 
royal  patent  for  Youghal  had  granted  permission  to  enclose 
certain  lands  for  breeding  horses  and  deer  ;  and  the  name  park 
still  clings  there  to  the  fields  that  have  reverted  to  less  dignified 
use.  Mr.  William  Freke  wrote  in  1617  that  he  hoped  to  get 
about  fifty  does  and  fifty  buck  from  a  Mr.  Maid,  who  was 
disparking  his  park  called  Currypool,  near  Bridgewater,  and 
hoped  to  get  a  hundred  more  from  the  Earl  of  Pembroke's 
herds  in  the  Forest  of  Dean.  He  was  sending  two  horse- 
loads  of  toils  to  take  them  with.2  Henry  Vaughan  of  Moccas 
also  contributed  deer  for  his  cousin's  park  ;  and  the  following 
January,  Mr.  Edward  Seymour,  a  south  of  England  squire, 
wrote  to  protest  against  Boyle's  agent  Mr.  Russel  offering 
to  buy  his  deer  at  but  a  French  crown  each,  when  he  could 
sell  them  for  three  times  as  much  at  home,  without  the  risk 
and  trouble  of  sending  them  so  far  ;  but  he  was  willing  to 
come  to  terms  and  ship  them  to  Ireland  if  he  could  receive 
wainscot  as  a  return  cargo  for  his  vessel,  and  also  have  the 
right  of  buying  a  hundred  does  at  a  pound  apiece  in  five 
or  six  years'  time.  A  good  many  of  the  larger  stags  and 
does  he  had  destined  for  Lord  Cork  had  died  after  being 

1  See  Autobiography  of  Robert  Boyle. 

2  L.  P.,  ii.  2.  108. 


132     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

taken,  which  he  attributed  to  the  shortness  of  the  panniers 
they  were  put  into  and  the  long  land  carriage  during  which 
they  had  hurt  themselves  by  struggling,  for  the  wind  had 
prevented  the  ship  standing  close  inshore  and  he  had  been 
obliged  to  send  them  eight  miles  by  land. 

Lord  Cork  loved  the  deer  he  had  got  with  so  much 
trouble,  and  kept  a  tame  buck  for  some  time  at  Youghal ;  but 
it  proved  to  be  an  untrustworthy  pet,  and  in  1619  he  wrote 
that  it  had  turned  savage  and  had  wounded  Sir  William  Fenton 
and  killed  a  keeper,  before  he  could  come  up  and  shoot  it. 

A  year  after  he  had  imported  his  deer,  Lord  Cork  notes 
with  joy  that  he  found  in  his  park  '  the  first  fawn  that  ever  was 
fawned  in  those  parts,'  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  could  send 
his  deer  far  and  wide  among  his  friends,  presenting  six  brace 
of  deer  to  Lord  Clanrickard  to  stock  his  new  park  at  Por- 
tumna  ;  and  later  on  five  brace  of  young  fawns  went  to  the 
same  park,  Lord  Cork  skilfully  arranging  that  they  should 
have  been  brought  up  by  goats,  so  that  their  foster-mothers 
should  travel  with  them. 

Of  all  the  Munster  gentry,  who  seem  to  have  spent  their 
time  like  Job's  children  feasting  in  each  other's  houses,  the 
one  we  meet  with  the  oftenest  is  Sir  John  Leeke,  who  leased 
Lisfinnon  Castle  from  the  Earl.  Jovial,  warm-hearted,  and 
gossiping,  whenever  there  was  a  message  to  carry  or  a  good- 
natured  errand  to  do,  Sir  John  was  always  ready  to  start,  and 
his  frequent  English  visits  to  his  wife's  cousins  the  Verneys 
of  Claydon,  enabled  him  to  do  a  vast  amount  of  London 
shopping  for  the  Boyle  family. 

Of  course  Sir  John  Leeke  was  one  of  the  first  to  follow  the 
Earl's  example  and  keep  deer,  and  when  he  was  in  England 
he  begged  his  lordship  to  keep  an  eye  on  them.  '  I  send 
over,'  he  wrote  to  Boyle  in  1624,  '  an  excellent  keeper,  as  good 


A   MUNSTER   MANSION  133 

a  woodman  as  any  in  this  kingdom,  an  honest  and  a  quiet 
man.  I  will  direct  him  to  your  honour,  that  yourself  may 
put  him  into  the  park,  otherwise  the  dogged  fellow  Thomas 
will  do  him  some  ill  turn  or  other,  if  I  be  not  there  to  order 
him  ;  but  I  know  he  doth  fear  you,  and  therefore  if  you 
command  him  he  dare  not  violate.  I  beseech  your  honour 
let  them  kill  some  bucks  with  the  bow,  that  my  hounds  be  not 
marred.'  He  had  no  fancy  evidently  for  Thomas  going 
a-hunting  on  his  own  account ;  and  he  had  further  heard  that 
Thomas  was  haunting  the  ale-houses  and  giving  away  rabbits, 
'  and  there  be  night  walks,'  so  it  was  indeed  necessary  for 
some  one  to  keep  an  eye  on  him. 

English  cows  and  English  sheep  were  so  frequently 
brought  over  for  the  Earl's  home  farm  and  for  the  use  of 
his  tenants,  that  there  was  none  of  the  anxiety  felt  over  their 
journeys  that  there  was  about  the  deer ;  but  the  importation  of 
horses  for  the  horse  park  was  an  important  matter,  and  the 
Earl  was  delighted  when  Sir  John  Leeke  brought  him  over  a 
horse  he  had  bought  for  ^2,4.  He  was  constantly  buying  and 
exchanging,  and  giving  horses  to  his  friends  and  servants,  and 
had  a  fashion  of  calling  his  horses  after  their  former  owners. 
'  Bay  Audley  '  was  a  greatly  valued  horse  of  Lord  Castlehaven's 
breed,  and  there  was  a  *  Grey  Eddow,'  and  many  more  such. 

Although  we  know  by  his  presents  to  King  James  and  his 
courtiers  how  highly  Boyle  valued  his  eyries  of  falcons,  strange 
to  say  he  never  gives  any  details  of  hawking-parties  in  his 
letters  or  diaries  ;  it  is  always  as  presents  that  he  mentions 
hawks.  Neither  does  he  ever  tell  of  his  hunting  exploits  :  it 
is  in  his  son's  diary  that  we  hear  of  riding  after  wolves  on  the 
Knockmeldown  Mountains.  Lord  Cork  only  mentions  wolf- 
hounds when  he  sends  them  away  to  his  friends.  As  the 
greatness  of  the  native  chieftains  had  declined  in  Ireland,  the 


134     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

breeding  of  their  hounds  had  been  neglected,  and  although 
there  was  still  no  lack  of  wolves  in  Ireland  to  give  them 
occupation,  the  dogs  who  had  been  tall  enough  to  look  over 
the  shoulders  of  their  masters  as  they  sat  at  meat  grew  smaller 
and  fewer.  So,  when  the  fancy  to  own  them  suddenly  arose 
among  fashionable  people  in  England,  the  Earl  of  Cork  was, 
in  his  own  words,  '  put  to  his  straits '  to  procure  wolf-hounds 
for  his  friends,  and  had  to  inquire  far  and  near,  coming  on  a 
'  very  fair  dog '  in  one  place,  and  '  a  handsome  brace  '  in  another, 
to  make  up  the  number.  The  St.  Legers  and  the  Browns  and 
the  Laceys  all  helped  him,  and  one  that  the  Earl  had  destined 
for  Mr.  Perkins  the  tailor  was  after  all  offered  for  the  service  of 
the  Queen  of  Bohemia.  That  lovely  lady  must  have  owned  a 
pack  of  wolf-hounds  ;  young  Dungarvan  took  over  three  brace 
in  1636,  and  Davie  Gibbons,  the  old  footman,  followed  next 
year  to  the  Hague  with  two  more.  But  ill-natured  gossip 
hinted  that  the  Queen  of  Hearts  went  even  further  than 
William  the  Conqueror  in  her  taste  for  sport,  and  '  loved  the 
tall  deer '  better  than  her  children  ! 

In  trying  to  imagine  the  life  in  a  country  mansion  in  the 
seventeenth  century,  we  must  take  account  of  the  constant 
coming  and  going  of  guests.  In  the  days  when  there  was  no 
penny  post  and  no  telegraph  wires,  business  matters  had  to  be 
arranged  by  sending  a  special  messenger  or  by  interviews,  even 
if  the  interview  meant  a  two-days'  journey.  When  there  were 
so  few  inns,  a  journey  usually  meant  a  series  of  visits,  for  the 
gentry  accepted  it  as  one  of  the  duties  of  their  position  to  keep 
open  house.  Besides  those  who  came  from  need,  or  business, 
or  pleasure,  there  were  the  official  visitors.  When  a  great  man, 
judge,  or  president,  or  lord  deputy,  was  on  his  rounds,  he 
naturally  turned  to  the  nearest  big  house,  riding  up  with  his 
retinue  of  gentlemen  and  grooms,  and  the  train  of  pack-horses 


A   MUNSTER   MANSION  135 

jingling  behind,  or  perhaps  rumbled  up  more  solemnly  in  his 
great  leathern  coach,  with  chaplain  sitting  in  the  boot,  and  all 
the  gentry  of  the  neighbourhood  drawn  up  to  receive  him. 
Then  all  was  bustle,  the  tun  of  Canary  that  had  been 
a  present  from  the  Mayor  of  Youghal  was  broached,  with 
usquebaugh  and  aquavitae  and  good  ale  ;  there  was  venison  to 
be  fetched  from  the  park,  Ralegh's  potatoes  and  Ralegh's 
Affane  cherries  from  the  garden,  casks  of  e  fumados '  and 
cockles  to  be  opened  and  fresh  fish  fetched  from  the  pond,  the 
English  cheeses  cut,  the  groceries  from  London  brought  out, 
marmalade,  and  green  ginger,  and  cinnamon  water  ;  sirloins 
of  beef  from  the  green  Camphire  meadows  were  roasted  to 
keep  the  mighty  pasties  company — all  served  on  silver  dishes 
and  spiced  with  condiments  from  the  branched  silver  salt- 
cellar. And  while  the  guests  feasted,  the  scarlet-clad  musicians 
played  stately  old  tunes,  or  the  Irish  harper  was  called  in  as  a 
compliment  to  the  Irish  among  the  guests. 

There  is  an  entry  among  the  Lismore  accounts  of  twenty- 
two  shillings  given  to  f  the  Prince's  players,'  one  of  the 
wandering  theatrical  companies,  who  played  in  great  folks' 
halls  from  Munster  to  Elsinore,  and  when  the  acting  was  over 
there  were  games  for  the  guests  at  cards  or  dice,  gleek  and 
'  quarter  loo  dicing  '  and  '  mawe.'  The  children  also  had  their 
gaieties,  and  the  Earl  gave  them  five  pounds  for  their  masque, 
'whereof  I  paid  out  of  my  own  purse  ^4,  17,  o,  and  gave 
order  to  Mr.  Whalley  to  add  three  shillings  to  make  up 
£5.'  There  were  merry  days  at  Lismore  in  the  Great  Earl's 
time. 

Boyle  never  gave  up  his  connection  with  the  friends  of 
his  youth  in  Connaught  and  Leinster  ;  the  Moores  and 
Edgeworths  were  constant  correspondents,  and  Henry  Crofton 
of  Mohill,  the  son  of  Boyle's  earliest  patron,  the  Escheator 


136     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

General,  was  trustee  to  the  marriage  settlement  of  Sara 
Boyle. 

Whether  English,  Irish,  or  Scottish,  or  of  old  Norman 
blood,  not  one  of  the  Munster  family  names  is  missing  among 
the  records  of  the  Earl's  visitors.  The  Elizabethan  settlers, 
Hulls  and  Beechers,  Daunts,  Hydes,  Hewitts  and  Flemings, 
met  at  Lismore  the  old  Irish  Lord  Roche  and  Lord  Muskerry, 
Keatings  and  M'Carthies. 

It  is  certainly  noticeable  that  no  social  feeling  divided  either 
Romanists  from  Protestants  or  Celts  from  Saxons.  Lord 
Roche  only  took  a  mischievous  pleasure  in  leading  his  Puritan 
friend  into  compromising  situations.  Boyle  wrote  in  vexation 
in  1620,  '  I  rode  with  my  Lord  Roche  to  M'Carthie's  marriage, 
but  he  was  married  with  a  papist  priest  before  and  I  unnobly 
did  withal  * ;  and  in  1615  Roche  was  delighted  to  spur  Boyle 
up  to  remember  his  religious  obligations,  and  reminded  him 
of  the  coming  of  Lent  and  his  Majesty's  edict  concerning  its 
observation,  excepting  for  *  such  as  should  be  sickly,  or  whose 
constitution  of  health  may  not  bear  eating  fish  : l  which  I  wish 
for  your  good,  and  assuring  myself  it  will  be  well  taken,  for 
my  Lord  Deputy  is  resolved  to  hold  that  course  with  his 
household  in  Dublin.' 

But  in  spite  of  these  little  pin-pricks,  when  we  cannot 
doubt  that  Cork  managed  to  give  as  good  as  he  got,  he  and 
Lord  Roche  were  firm  friends,  and  at  the  very  time  when  he 
was  exhorting  Lord  Cork  to  fast,  Lord  Roche  was  also  writing 
to  him,  that,  anxious  as  he  was  to  discuss  the  arrangements 
for  the  coming  Parliament,  *  I  would  not  have  you  be  bold  to 
come  abroad  till  fairer  weather  come  on,  therefore  appoint  the 


1  In  1 640  there  is  a  note  that  Lord  Cork  purchased  a  licence  from  the  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury  '  under  his  seal  of  office  for  myself  and  eleven  more  to  eat  flesh  this 
Lent,  the  fees  whereof  cost  one  mark.' 


A   MUNSTER   MANSION  137 

time  of  my  coming  to  you  .  .  .,  for  I  prefer  your  wellfare 
and  health  before  my  ease  and  all  the  horseflesh  in  the 
country.' 

The  Earl  on  his  side  never  failed  in  the  office  of  friend- 
ship :  when  Lord  Roche's  son,  Sir  Tibbott,  or  Theobald,  died 
of  small-pox  at  Youghal,  he  even  went  so  far  as  to  send  the 
body  back  to  the  bereaved  father  in  his  own  coach. 

To  the  port  of  Youghal  came  visitors  of  all  degrees  from 
England  :  fine  gentlemen,  who  hoped  that  Lord  Cork's  influ- 
ence would  secure  them  matches  with  Munster  heiresses, 
country  squires  like  Sir  Harry  Lee  of  Ditchley,  immortalised 
in  Woodstock^  who  came  to  see  after  investments  of  money, 
and,  dearest  of  all,  Cork's  old  comrade  in  Carew's  war,  Sir 
Thomas  Stafford,  who  called  to  talk  over  old  adventures,  on 
his  way  to  visit  his  mother  at  Crookhaven.  The  letter  that 
announced  his  coming  was  sealed  with  the  wonderful  seal  the 
great  Dean  Donne  had  given  him,  a  mystic  emblem  of  hope, 
showing  the  Saviour  extended,  not  upon  a  cross,  but  on  an 
anchor. 

With  the  prosperous  English  visitors  came  also  an  un- 
ceasing stream  of  poor  Boyle  relations,  all  of  whom  were 
welcomed  and  provided  for  by  their  prosperous  cousin. 
Lord  Cork  had  not  the  least  hesitation  in  admitting  that 
many  of  his  connections  were  in  trade,  and  when  in  London 
was  as  ready  to  dine  with  his  cousin  Croon  the  Vintner 
as  with  any  court  gentleman.  He  invited  his  '  poor  honest 
kinsman,'  Roger  Boyle,  the  grocer,  over  to  Ireland  and  settled 
him  on  a  farm  on  the  Galtees.  But  the  poor  grocer,  it 
appears,  did  not  understand  farming,  for  it  was  not  long  till 
he  was  driven  to  mortgage  his  land,  and  Lord  Cork  had  to 
redeem  it  for  him. 

Only  one  of  them,  *  Cozen  Cripps,'  was  too  much  even  for 


138     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Munster  hospitality.  She  established  herself  at  Ballynetra, 
where  the  Earl  sent  her  twenty  shillings  by  his  niece,  Kate 
Supple  ;  but  a  few  months  later  he  was  obliged  to  send  Dean 
Naylor's  wife  with  twenty-five  shillings  to  give  '  my  cousin 
Cripps  to  carry  her  into  England.  And  my  children  made 
it  up  to  £5  amongst  them,  conditionally  she  came  no  more 
to  trouble  us  in  Ireland  ! '  This  undesired  visitor  was 
apparently  well  connected,  for  there  is  mention  in  the  diary 
of  an  old  Sir  Edward  Cripps,  to  whom  the  Earl  sent  a  pair 
of  embroidered  gloves  one  New  Year's  Day. 

Of  all  the  Boyle  cousins,  the  one  who  must  interest  us 
most  is  the  golden-haired  Elizabeth  Spenser,  who  found  her 
way  back  to  Ireland  and  married  again  and  lived  at  Youghal. 
There  was  nothing  poetical  in  the  poor  lady's  later  life  ;  her 
letters  are  but  complaints  to  her  rich  and  sympathetic  cousin 
of  her  anxieties  about  her  sons  or  her  money,  and  we  can 
hardly  doubt  that  her  second  and  third  marriages  were  matters 
of  commonplace  convenience.  But  after  all,  it  is  better  so, 
better  that  the  romance  of  her  life  should  be  buried  in  West- 
minster Abbey  with  the  poet  who  had  honoured  her  with  his 
love,  than  that  she  should  have  given  her  heart  with  her  hand 
to  one  of  a  lower  nature.  Her  second  marriage,  with  Roger 
Seckerstone,  did  not  last  long,  and  in  1612  she  took  as  her 
third  husband  Captain  Robert  Tynte,  the  godfather  of  Boyle's 
eldest  daughter.  There  was  no  jubilant  opening  of  the 
Temple  Gates  for  this  wedding  ;  it  was  celebrated,  as  seems 
to  have  been  the  bad  fashion  of  those  days,  in  the  study  of  the 
College  House  at  Youghal.  Richard  Boyle,  Dean  of  Lismore, 
tied  the  knot,  and  the  event  is  chronicled  in  the  Earl's  diary, 
'  and  I  gave  her  to  him  in  marriage,  and  I  beseech  God  to 
bless  them  with  good  agreement  and  many  virtuous  children.'1 

i  /..  P.,  i.  i.  g. 


A   MUNSTER    MANSION  139 

Lady  Tynte  had  indeed  cause  for  anxiety  over  her  sons. 
Her  Tynte  children  were  not  especially  virtuous,  and  her 
Spenser  sons  were  very  poor.  There  is  a  most  sad  letter  from 
Peregrine  Spenser  to  Boyle  in  i6i2.1  He  says:  'Necessity 
and  I  have  been  of  so  long  acquaintance,  that  I  am  almost 
inured  to  continue  her  abject.'  He  begs  for  counsel,  for 
he  had  got  a  situation  as  gentleman  usher,  by  means  of  such 
friends  as  he,  a  stranger  in  England,  could  make  in  so  short 
a  time,  but  now  had  lost  it  by  falling  ill.  His  health  was  not 
equal  to  study,  '  but  your  charity  will  be  a  means  to  direct  my 
youth  in  a  path,  that  my  age  may  live  to  pray  for  you.'  In  a 
postscript  he  adds  :  '  My  mother  writ  to  me  that  you  had 
taken  order  with  Mr.  Bor  for  five  pounds  at  Easter  last,  which 
hitherto  I  have  not  heard  of ;  but  your  kind  remembrance  by 
Capt.  Norton  hath  remembered  more  thanks  than  this  little 
paper  dare  be  capable  of.'  Peregrine  was  well  named  a 
stranger  and  pilgrim  upon  earth,  as  his  father  had  felt 
himself  when  he  gave  his  son  such  a  significant  name.  How- 
ever, Peregrine's  fortunes  seem  to  have  improved,  for  at  his 
death  in  1641  he  left  his  son  Hugolin  owner  of  an  estate 
named  Renny. 

In  1624  came  the  most  exalted  of  visitors,  the  Governor 
of  the  country.  Lord  Deputy  Falkland  rode  on  progress 
through  Munster,  and  came  with  great  state  to  Youghal,  the 
Earl  of  Cork  meeting  him  with  forty  gentlemen,  and  entertain- 
ing him  and  the  Lord  President  of  Munster  for  four  days  at 
the  College.  There,  in  the  dining  parlour,  Lord  Falkland 
knighted  the  twelve-year-old  son  and  heir,  Lord  Dungarvan, 
and  the  new  boy-knight  presented  the  Deputy  with  a  falcon, 
and  the  Deputy's  son  Lucius,  with  a  tercel  gentle.  Lord 
Cork  presented  a  black  mare  to  the  Deputy,  and  the  fees  for 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  2.  139. 


1 40     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

knighthood  amounted  to  £31,  ios.  The  Deputy  also  knighted 
Smyth  of  Ballynetra,  Lord  Cork's  brother-in-law,  and  George 
Boyle  of  the  iron-works,  the  Earl  paying  their  fees  for  them. 

Lord  Falkland  liked  his  Munster  host  so  well  that  he 
would  willingly  have  found  a  bride  for  his  son  Lucius  Cary 
among  the  Ladies  Boyle  ;  but  Lord  Cork  was  not  disposed  to 
give  one  of  his  richly  dowered  daughters  to  a  comparatively 
poor  suitor,  and  so  he  missed  the  honour  of  calling  the  noblest 
gentleman  in  England  his  son-in-law.  But  a  warm  friendship 
continued  to  exist  between  the  families,  and  long  years  after, 
when  Lucius  Cary  fell  on  Newbury  field,  Katherine  Boyle's 
letter  of  sorrow  was  a  worthy  epitaph  on  that  stainless  knight. 

Lord  Falkland's  progress  in  Munster  ended  somewhat 
sadly,  for  the  President  of  Munster,  the  Earl  of  Thomond, 
was  taken  suddenly  ill  during  the  tour,  and  died  in  three  days. 
But  his  death  brought  a  close  friend  of  the  Boyles  to  Munster, 
for  in  December  Lord  Falkland  announced  : — 

'  Sir  Edward  Villiers  shall  certainly  shortly  come  over 
President  of  Munster,  which,  for  his  sake,  your  sake,  and  my 
own,  I  am  glad  of.  If  the  times  prove  as  stirring  as  they  are 
likely  to  be,  his  employment  will  prove  both  honourable, 
profitable,  and  pleasant  unto  him.' 

What  the  '  stirring  times  '  were  to  which  the  Deputy  looked 
forward  is  not  clear ;  it  is  to  be  hoped  that  he  did  not  mean 
that  an  Irish  war  with  ensuing  forfeitures  was  the  best  luck  to 
be  desired !  Perhaps  poor  Lord  Falkland  thought  that  any 
fighting  in  the  field  would  be  preferable  to  the  constant 
struggles  in  the  Irish  Council  Chamber,  where  Sir  Francis 
Annesley  had  for  long  made  it  his  pride  to  put  one  Lord 
Deputy  after  another  to  rout. 

In  October  1625,  Sir  Edward  Villiers  arrived  in  Ireland 
and  became  tenant  of  the  College  House  at  Youghal,  and  in 


A   MUNSTER   MANSION  141 

March  1626,  'my  Lord  President  came  from  Moallo  to 
Lismore,'  and  *  saw  a  piece  of  ordanance  cast  at  Cappoquin.' 
There  were  plenty  of  junketings  that  year.  One  entry  in 
the  diary  tells  of  an  August  picnic  for  the  Boyle  and  Villiers 
children.  '  Sent  a  fat  buck  to  Dungarvan,  whither  my  son 
Richard,  my  four  daughters  and  Mr.  Villiers,  with  other  good 
company,  went  to  be  merry,  this  being  the  first  day  my  son 
saw  Dungarvan.'  As  was  inevitable  when  Lord  Cork  and  his 
friends  were  happy  together,  the  talk  soon  turned  on  marriages. 
Cork  would  willingly  have  had  a  daughter-in-law  from  the 
Villiers  family,  but  Sir  Edward  said  candidly  that  his  fortune 
was  not  great  enough  to  dower  a  Viscountess  of  Dungarvan, 
for  he  had  not  eight  hundred  a  year  in  land.  He  must  have 
been  a  singularly  unlucky  man,  for  scandal  had  whispered  that 
more  money  had  come  into  his  hands  than  he  could  publicly 
account  for.  However,  it  does  not  seem  to  have  stayed  with 
him,  for  whatever  fault  the  Villiers  family  had  they  were  never 
niggardly.  The  Viscount  of  thirteen  was,  it  seems,  old  enough 
to  take  some  interest  in  his  own  future  bride,  for  an  allusion 
made  long  afterwards  by  Dungarvan  to  Lady  Barbara  Villiers 
shows  there  had  been  a  little  sentiment  as  well  as  diplomacy  in 
the  negotiations. 

But  these  gay  days  passed  all  too  quickly.  On  September 
2,  1626,  comes  the  entry,  'My  noble  friend,  Sir  Ed.  Villiers, 
sickened  this  day  at  Youghal  and  died  there  the  8th  of  this 
month  about  four  of  the  clock  in  the  morning  and  was  buried 
in  my  new  chapel  about  eight  in  the  evening,  I  attending  his 
death  and  funeral/  Lord  Cork  did  all  that  friendship  could 
do  to  aid  Lady  Villiers  in  her  sad  journey  back  to  England, 
sending  fifty  pounds  to  the  captain  of  the  King's  ship  then  on 
guard  on  the  coast  of  Munster  to  enable  him  to  make  suitable 
preparations  on  board  for  her  reception;  and  on  the  i6th  of 


i42     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

October,  Lord  Cork,  Lord  Barry,  and  Lord  Digby  rode  to 
Youghal,  *  to  bring  my  Lady  Villiers  a-shipboard,  and  returned 
the  2ist,  and  I  gave  my  godson  Richard  Villiers  his  nurse 
ten  shillings.' 

Lady  Villiers  gave  a  parting  gift  of  ten  books  of  Common 
Prayer  for  use  in  the  chapel  where  her  husband  lay. 

The  epitaph  she  placed  over  his  tomb  is  so  striking,  that 
some  critics  have  suggested  it  may  have  been  written  by  Ben 
Jonson. 

Munster  may  curse 
The  time  that  Villiers  came 

To  make  us  worse 
By  leaving  such  a  name 

Of  noble  parts 
As  none  can  imitate 

But  those  whose  harts 
Are  married  to  the  State. 

But  if  they  press 
To  imitate  his  fame, 

Munster  may  bless 
The  time  when  Villiers  came. 


CHAPTER    IX 

MARRIAGES    OF    CONVENIENCE 
1621 — 1630 

'  Marry  !      That  marry  is  the  very  theme 
I  come  to  tell  of.' 

Romeo  and  Juliet. 

SEVENTEENTH-CENTURY  weddings  appear  to  have  been  usually 
a  matter  of  as  long  and  complicated  negotiation  as  if  two 
nations  were  discussing  peace  and  war,  instead  of  two  private 
gentlemen  haggling  over  how  many  hundred  pounds  should 
make  up  a  dowry. 

Our  sympathy  to-day  is  naturally  given  to  the  Romeos 
and  Juliets  of  old  ;  but  we  may  well  spare  a  little  pity  for 
seventeenth-century  parents,  for  authority  carries  with  it  its 
own  responsibilities,  and  when  the  future  of  children  was 
entirely  at  the  mercy  of  a  parent's  wisdom  or  caprice,  a  con- 
scientious father  felt  himself  bound  to  provide  for  that  future 
to  the  best  of  his  ability. 

While  the  Earl  of  Cork's  sons  were  yet  in  their  cradles, 
he  was  moving  heaven  and  earth  to  buy  them  titles  and  to 
build  up  estates  for  them.  Each  fresh  mortgage  or  purchase 
of  land  was  ticketed  for  Dungarvan,  or  for  Roger,  or  for 
Robert.  It  was  simpler,  though  hardly  less  expensive,  to 
provide  for  the  girls  ;  they  were  to  be  married  off  as  soon 
as  possible,  to  the  richest  suitors  attainable.  There  was  no 
hesitation  felt  about  marrying  for  money ;  the  whole  thing 


143 


144     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

was  a  mere  matter  of  pounds,  shillings,  and  pence  ;  and  yet  the 
Earl  was  a  most  loving  father,  and  lavished  prayers  and 
blessings  on  the  daughters  who  were  bargained  away  like 
pieces  of  merchandise. 

There  was  perhaps  one  redeeming  point  about  these 
unromantic  matches,  which  often  distinguished  them  from 
mere  manages  de  conveyance  :  the  bride  was  usually  no  more 
than  a  baby,  and  she  was  handed  over  to  be  brought  up  in  the 
family  of  the  boy  bridegroom,  so  that  the  lifelong  familiarity 
of  the  children  made  the  affair  less  repulsive  than  when  a 
grown  man  and  woman  met  for  the  first  time  on  their 
wedding-day. 

Alice  Boyle  was  but  ten  years  old  when  the  agreement  was 
signed  that  promised  her  to  a  boy  of  twelve,  young  Lord 
Barry  ;  but  she  returned  after  the  betrothal  to  Lady  Clayton's 
care,  for  the  bridegroom  had  no  home  of  his  own  to  which  to 
carry  her.  Although  he  was  The  Barry  More,  head  of  the 
great  Barry  family  that  had  been  lords  of  a  third  of  all 
Munster  ever  since  the  days  that  the  Normans  invaded  Ire- 
land,1 he  was  but  a  homeless  and  forlorn  little  fellow.  His 
grandfather  was  David  Fitzjames  Barry,  Viscount  Buttevant, 
but  his  father,  David  Barry,  had  never  succeeded  to  the  title, 
having  died  in  1635,  shortly  before  this  boy's  birth. 

When  old  Lord  Buttevant  died,  his  real  heir  was  his  deaf 
and  dumb  eldest  son  ;  but  by  general  consent  this  man  was 
held  incompetent,  and  little  David  was  hailed  as  head  of  the 
family,  although  he  was  seldom  given  any  higher  title  than 
Lord  Barry.  Hard  times  soon  came  on  the  boy  and  his 
widowed  mother,  Mrs.  Ellis2  Barry,  for  his  guardian  was 
his  aunt,  the  Countess  of  Ormond,  and  the  countess,  for 
reasons  of  her  own,  joined  with  her  second  husband,  Sir 

1  See  Windele  Manuscripts.  2  Ellis,  or  Ellice,  short  for  Elizabeth. 


MARRIAGES  OF   CONVENIENCE  145 

Thomas  Somerset,  in  persecuting  poor  Mrs.  Ellis  in  every 
way  she  could  devise.  But  Mrs.  Ellis  had  been  a  Poer,  and 
had  the  spirit  of  the  Poers.  She  took  to  herself  a  second 
husband,  Mr.  Sherlock,  garrisoned  her  boy's  castle  of  Barrys- 
court  with  '  fifty  hable  men,'  and  refused  to  let  the  guar- 
dians lay  a  finger  on  her  boy  or  his  estates.  But  the  good 
old  Munster  fashions  of  private  feuds  did  not  please  the 
Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland,  who  clapped  poor  Mrs.  Ellis  into 
Dublin  Castle,  and  left  her  no  resource  but  to  appeal  to  the 
powerful  Sir  Richard  Boyle  for  his  help.  He  promptly  con- 
cluded an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance  with  her,  sent  her 
^5,  i  os.  in  gold  for  her  expenses,  and  promised  to  recover 
her  boy,  and  marry  him  to  his  own  eldest  daughter,  Alice 
Boyle. 

Meanwhile  the  little  fellow  over  whom  the  guardians  were 
quarrelling  was  sent  away  from  his  mother  and  his  friends, 
and  bestowed  in  the  household  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury. He  ought  to  have  done  well  under  the  care  of  so 
learned  and  pious  a  man  as  Abbott ;  but  the  archbishop  was 
either  too  busy  or  too  much  absorbed  in  his  studies  to  take 
any  interest  in  a  mere  child,  and  David  idled  about  Lambeth 
Palace,  uncared  for  and  untaught,  till  Boyle  gained  power  to 
interfere  in  his  behalf.  Then,  in  November  1617,  Boyle 
wrote  with  proud  pleasure  : — 

'  God  bless  it.  On  this  day  I  agreed  with  Sir  Lawrence 
Esmond,  Mr.  Patrick  Sherlock,  and  Mr.  Barry  and  his  sons 
on  behalf  of  my  lord  Barry,  to  redeem  all  his  mortgages  so 
that  they  exceeded  not  ^3000,  and  to  have  ten  in  the  hundred 
for  the  use  of  my  money,  the  surplus  of  the  rent  to  be  dis- 
posed of  for  the  young  lord's  maintainence.  And  I  am  to 
give  Alice  the  rents  of  the  Abbey  of  Castle  Lyons  to  buy  her 
pins,  and  I  to  have  the  breeding  of  the  young  Lord  Barry.' 


146     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

As  soon  as  matters  were  so  far  advanced,  Boyle  was  able 
to  assume  the  responsibility  of  the  young  lord's  education, 
and  he  was  sent  off  to  Eton  under  the  care  of  his  tutor, 
Dr.  Joslen,  and  William  Brown.  Perkins,  the  Earl's  London 
tailor,  received  orders  to  provide  fifty  pounds'  worth  of  clothes 
for  tutor  and  pupil,  and  to  advance  '  £25  to  pay  for  his 
quarter's  dyett  at  Eton.' 

But  even  at  Eton  the  boy's  troubles  were  not  over  :  most 
people  looked  on  him  with  affection  and  pity  ;  but  Sir 
Laurence  Parsons  wrote  to  warn  Cork  that  he  believed  Lady 
Ormond  would  never  rest  content  till  she  had  ruined  her  poor 
sister-in-law,  and  that  the  only  hope  of  safety  for  mother  or 
son  would  be  to  get  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  to  lay  the  case 
before  the  King,  who  would  be  sure  to  take  '  Somerset's 
doings  ill.' 

Kind  Sir  John  Leeke,  who  leased  land  near  Castle  Lyons, 
the  ruined  mansion  of  the  De  Barrys,  shared  Lord  Cork's 
interest  in  the  fatherless  boy.  He  wrote  in  1618  to  tell  how 
at  last  the  King's  notice  was  drawn  to  young  Barry  :  '  Sunday 
the  2yth  of  September  the  King  led  my  Lord  Barry  to  chapel, 
and  there  did  use  him  most  graciously.  I  have  been  often 
with  him  ;  his  lordship  doth  lack  money,  and  if  I  can  get  in 
my  money,  I  will  supply  him  with  .£50  or  £100,  if  it  shall 
please  your  lordship  to  see  me  paid.' 

But  even  these  open  signs  of  royal  favour  did  not  secure 
Lord  Barry  from  his  enemies.  His  kinsman,  Lord  Roche, 
wrote  in  August  1620  in  a  desperate  state  of  anxiety  lest 
Lord  Cork  should  get  tired  of  maintaining  the  long  struggle. 
f  Seeing,'  he  says,  *  how  earnest  Sir  T.  Somerset  deals  against 
your  lordship  and  that  sweet  young  lord,  whose  courage  and 
health  I  pray  God  may  be  preserved  from  such  unnatural 
and  cruel  attempts, — I  cannot  conceive  nor  understand  how 


MARRIAGES   OF   CONVENIENCE  147 

your  lordship  in  honour  or  conscience  may  forsake  this  young 
lord,  considering  how  firm  and  steadfast  he  is  towards  you 
and  yours,  notwithstanding  any  soothing  or  large  offers  that 
are  daily  made  unto  him  to  quit  him  from  your  lordship.' 

Boyle  had  by  this  time  secured  his  own  title  as  Earl  of 
Cork,  and  was  too  safe  in  the  favour  of  the  all-powerful  Duke 
of  Buckingham  to  be  scared  into  dropping  the  boy  he  had 
secured  for  a  son-in-law.  Opposition  only  made  him  the 
more  resolved  to  possess  Lord  Barry,  cost  what  it  might,  and 
although  he  considered  ^850  an  unfairly  high  price  to  pay 
for  the  wardship,  in  addition  to  the  ^3000  he  had  promised 
as  Alice's  dowry,  he  paid  it  down  in  October  1620,  and  paid 
the  young  lord's  Eton  bills  into  the  bargain,  for  one  of  Lord 
Cork's  English  friends  warned  him,  '  the  young  nobleman 
saith  plainly  he  will  not  depart  hence  in  debt.'  At  last  all  the 
money  matters  were  settled,  and  Lord  Barry  was  delivered 
from  his  enemies,  and  arrived  safe  and  sound  at  Youghal  in 
December,  '  to  my  great  comfort,'  writes  Lord  Cork,  *  after 
a  most  tempestuous  passage  and  narrow  escape,  God  be  ever 
praised.  And  I  gave  my  Lord  Barry  my  ambling  gelding 
Bay  Thomond  and  my  mewed  goshawk,  and  I  am  to  have  his 
eyrie  of  falcons.' 

There,  storms  were  over  ;  there  was  now  only  comfortable 
talk  of  horses  and  hawks,  and  a  cheerful  family  circle  to 
welcome  the  lonely  boy,  in  which  we  may  hope  Mrs.  Ellis 
Poer  and  her  daughter  Peggy  Sherlock  found  their  places. 

On  the  3rd  of  December,  with  due  formality,  is  entered 
in  the  diary  :  '  The  young  Lord  Barry  Lo.  Viscount  Buttavent 
was  this  day  in  the  hall  of  the  College  House  of  Youghall  by 
the  L.  Bishop  of  Cork  contracted  pro  verba  de  presenti  to  my 
eldest  daughter  the  Lady  Alice  Boyle  in  the  presence  of  Sir 
W.  Fenton,  Sir  J.  Fitz  Edmonds,  Sir  R.  Tynte,  and  40  more 


148     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

of  good  worth  and  reputation.  And  their  contract  written 
and  testified  by  the  said  bishop,  and  signed  by  the  young 
couple  with  many  of  the  witnesses'  names  subscribed.  And  I 
do  humbly  beseech  the  Almighty  God  of  Heaven  in  and 
through  his  best  beloved  Son  Jesu  Christ  to  pour  upon  them 
both  all  spiritual  and  temporal  blessings  in  a  most  plentiful 
manner,  and  that  they  may  live  long  and  comfortably  together 
in  His  divine  fear  and  protection,  and  be  the  parents  of  many 
good  and  virtuous  children,  etcetra.' 

In  spite  of  the  quaint  conclusion,  Lord  Cork  was  evidently 
deeply  moved  by  the  marriage  of  his  eldest  daughter.  He 
never  wrote  so  warmly  of  any  other  wedding.  He  took 
Lord  Barry  to  his  heart  as  an  elder  son,  and  was  never  better 
pleased  than  when  he  could  write  he  had  ridden  to  assizes  or 
military  musters  on  horseback  '  with  my  Lord  Barry.' 

The  following  summer  the  wedding  was  solemnised  by 
Michael  Boyle,  Bishop  of  Waterford,  late  in  the  evening  of 
July  9,  1621.  This  wedding  at  Lismore  was  a  double  one,  as 
the  Earl's  second  daughter  Sara  was  married  at  the  same  time 
to  Sir  Thomas  Moore,  son  and  heir  to  Lord  Moore.  The 
story  of  sweet  Sara  Moore  must  be  told  presently,  but  we 
may  first  follow  the  fortunes  of  the  Barrys  a  little  further. 

The  next  notice  of  the  young  bridegroom  is  in  December 
1621,  when  his  father-in-law  makes  a  very  serious  note  about 
him  in  his  diary  : — 

'  My  Lord  Barry,  tho'  it  was  Sunday,  upon  an  untimely 
falling  out  at  dice,  wounded  Malperos,  the  usher  of  my  hall, 
very  dangerously  with  the  firefork.  I  pray  God  he  may 
recover,  and  that  the  example  hereof  may  teach  my  Lord 
better  temper  and  carriage,  and  neither  of  them  hereafter  may 
presume  to  play  upon  the  Lord's  Day.* 

As  we  hear  no  more  of  Sunday  battles,  we  may  presume 


MARRIAGES   OF   CONVENIENCE  149 

my  lord  did  take  it  to  heart.  He  grew  up  to  be  a  gallant 
and  spirited  gentleman,  a  little  headstrong  and  careless  about 
money  matters,  but  in  general  most  dutiful  to  his  father- 
in-law.  Mr.  Vigors,  the  Boyles'  private  chaplain,  describes 
him  as  *  of  a  most  noble,  generous,  free  nature,  full  of 
humanity  and  Christian  charity,  and  no  less  pious  and  truly 
virtuous.  He  hath  sermons  in  his  chapel  duly  twice  a  day 
on  Sundays,  Wednesdays  and  Fridays.' l 

The  young  couple  lived  almost  entirely  with  Lord  Cork 
during  Lord  Barry's  minority.  The  young  lord  seems 
not  to  have  cared  for  Barry's  Court,  his  fortress  on  Cork 
Harbour,  and  mortgaged  it  to  Lord  Cork  to  raise  money  to 
repair  and  enlarge  Castle  Lyons,  the  Castle  Lehane  granted 
to  his  ancestors  by  King  John.  Unceasing  work  at  Castle 
Lyons  ended  in  turning  the  feudal  fortress  into  a  superb 
Jacobean  mansion,  built  round  a  central  courtyard,  one  side 
of  which  was  entirely  occupied  by  the  great  hall,  and  another 
by  the  kitchen.  A  noble  gallery,  ninety  feet  long  and  two 
stories  high,  was  begun,  but  never  finished.  Tradition  still 
tells  of  the  beauty  of  the  terraced  gardens  watered  by  an 
artificial  canal,  and  of  the  great  deer-park  ;  but  alas  !  a  fire  in 
the  eighteenth  century  has  left  nothing  but  ruins  to  tell  of 
the  former  glories  of  the  Barry  mores'  mansion,  and  most  of 
the  family  portraits  and  records  perished  with  the  Castle.2 

It  is  tantalising  that  the  formality  with  which  children 
addressed  their  parents  makes  the  letters  of  the  Earl's  children 
tell  little  of  their  real  characters,  but  Sir  John  Leeke  breaks 
out  in  absolute  raptures  over  his  '  dear  mistress,'  as  he  always 
calls  Lady  Barry.  *  My  dear  mistress,  the  worthiest  of 
women.  Believe  me,  old  Cork  could  beget  nothing  foolish. 

1  Urban  Vigors's  Narr.,  Cork  Arch.  Jour.  (1896),  p.  300. 

2  See  Windele  Manuscripts,  Cork  Arch.  Jour.  (1897),  p.  176;  Smith,  i.  146. 


150    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

By  my  soul  I  dare  swear  it,  I  had  rather  have  her  judgment  in 
business  than  the  greatest  councillors  among  us,  and  if  I  had 
a  desire  to  be  merry,  better  company  is  not.' l 

Fond  as  the  Earl  of  Cork  was  of  his  eldest  daughter's 
husband,  he  could  not  always  suppress  a  grumble  at  the  amount 
of  money  he  was  asked  to  lend  to  the  poor  and  proud  head  of 
the  Barry  clan,  but  Alice  could  generally  manage  to  persuade 
her  father  to  open  his  purse-strings.  Sir  John  Leeke  in  one 
of  his  rapturous  panegyrics  on  his  '  dear  mistress,'  tells  the 
Verneys  it  was  she  who  had  bestirred  herself  to  persuade  her 
father  to  renew  a  lease  to  him  on  very  generous  terms. 

A  serious  appeal  for  money  came  in  the  year  1637,  when 
Lord  Barry  heard  a  report  that  the  Duke  of  Buckingham  had 
promised  to  support  Viscount  Gormanston's  claims  to  take 
precedence  of  Viscount  Buttevant,  and  he  flew  in  great  agitation 
to  implore  Lord  Cork  to  save  him  this  humiliation,  by  bidding 
higher  in  the  market  for  titles  and  buying  him  an  earl's 
coronet  !  The  thousand  pounds,  at  which  Buckingham  priced 
the  title,  was  of  course  advanced  by  Lord  Cork,  secured  on 
lands  which  his  son-in-law  let  to  him  at  a  peppercorn  rent. 
The  Earl  of  Barrymore  also  had  to  pay  £243,  8s.  8d.  in  fees, 
and  then  was  for  ever  secure  from  the  pretensions  of  mere 
viscounts. 

From  this  time  on,  the  news  from  Castle  Lyons  is  chiefly 
of  the  peaceful  family  sort.  In  1632,  when  the  falling  in  of 
some  Fermoy  leases  brought  a  flock  of  five  hundred  and  thirty 
ewes  into  Lord  Cork's  hands,  he  writes,  '  The  ewes  I  have 
bestowed  on  my  pretty  grandchild  Katie  Barry,  to  begin  a 
stock  of  sheep  for  her  withal.'  Pretty  Katie  had  a  younger 
sister  Ellen,  and  then  came  two  boys,  Richard  and  James. 
Richard,  afterwards  second  earl,  was  named  after  his  grand- 

1  Verney  Mems.,  i.  203. 


MARRIAGES   OF   CONVENIENCE  151 

father  and  brought  up  with  great  care  ;  his  mother  wrote  in 
1639  to  beg  Sir  Edmund  Verney  to  find  her  a  '  mounseer '  to 
teach  him  to  write,  and  to  accompany  him  when  he  was  sent  to 
school.  '  I  would  not  have  him  too  old  or  too  young,'  she 
writes,  '  but  one  of  very  temperate  carriage.'  *  Choose  one  for 
my  mad  boy,'  she  goes  on,  *  and  that  he  may  come  over  with 
as  much  speed  as  may  be,  for  he  is  spoilt  for  want  of  one.' l 

And  here  we  may  leave  Alice  a  while  to  her  busy,  useful 
life,  and  turn  to  the  little  sister  who  was  married  on  the 
same  day. 

Sara  Boyle  had  never  passed  under  Lady  Clayton's  care, 
for  the  negotiations  about  her  marriage  began  when  she  was 
not  out  of  the  nursery.  The  story  starts  in  the  year  1617, 
when  Sara  was  nine  years  old.  A  certain  old  friend,  Sir  John 
Blennerhasset,  wrote  to  Lord  Cork  to  tell  him  he  had  been 
staying  at  Mellifont  Abbey,  where  his  hostess,  Lady  Moore, 
had  been  talking  over  her  family  with  him,  and  confided  to 
him  how  anxious  she  was  to  find  a  good  wife  for  her  eldest 
surviving  son,  and  asked  him  to  help  her  in  the  search.  Sir 
John  in  reckoning  over  the  families  of  his  friends,  bethought 
him  of  the  nursery  full  of  children  at  Lismore,  and  wrote  off 
to  tell  Boyle  of  this  excellent  chance.  *  The  young  gentleman 
is  of  as  good  hope  as  any  I  know  in  this  kingdom,  his  age  is 
about  eighteen.' 2  The  Earl  answered  with  great  pleasure  and 
gratitude  :  '  It  is  so  fair  and  honourable,  as  I  should  forget 
myself  and  my  child's  good  too  much  if  I  should  not  appre- 
hend it  as  a  blessing  from  God.  .  .  .  My  Lord  Moore,  he  is 
a  nobleman  that  I  ever  honoured,  his  father  being  the  principal 
means  under  God  that  first  invited  my  coming  into  this 
kingdom.  His  lady  is  my  gossip,  to  whose  mother  I  was 
much  bound  in  my  first  fortunes.  The  memory  thereof,  and 

1  Verney  Menu.,  \.  218.  2  L.  P.,  ii.  2.  102. 


152     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

the  virtues  of  the  other  [i.e.  Lady  Moore]  I  much  reverence, 
and  therefore  have  the  greater  willingness  to  match  in  that 
family.  My  daughter,  though  of  good  growth  (you  have 
seen  her  in  my  house),  is  but  nine  years  old  ;  she  is  well 
nurtured  and  conditioned,  religiously  bred,  and  hath  as  many 
good  qualities  as  may  be  expected  of  one  of  her  time.  The 
preferment  I  shall  give  her  shall  be  ^3000,  and  I  shall  expect 
a  jointure  accordingly ';  and  concludes  by  '  desiring  God, 
who  makes  marriages  in  heaven,  to  bless  your  endeavours.'1 

After  Alice's  wedding  in  1621,  she  was  left  for  two  years 
longer  in  her  father's  house,  but  her  portrait  was  sent  to 
Mellifont,  painted  by  a  *  french  limner,'  who  was  paid  thirteen 
pounds  by  Lord  Cork  for  '  making  my  own,  my  wife's,  my 
mother's,  Sara's,  Dick's,  and  Joan's  pictures.'  The  portraits 
of  Dick  and  Joan  were  sent  over  to  Sir  Edward  Villiers,  no 
doubt  to  pave  the  way  for  negotiations  of  marriage  for  them. 
Meanwhile  Sir  Thomas  Moore  was  making  the  grand  tour 
under  the  care  of  a  tutor,  having  taken  Lord  Cork's  own 
saddle  hackney,  Black  Carew,  as  a  parting  present  from 
Lismore.  But  he  returned  the  following  year,  and  with  his 
younger  brother  spent  the  best  part  of  a  month  in  Munster. 

When  Lord  Cork  had  paid  over  the  last  instalment  of 
Sara's  dowry  in  July  1623,  he  rode  over  to  Mellifont  from 
Dublin  and  gave  his  future  son-in-law  a  bill  for  £500,  'as  a 
further  bounty,'  and  then  in  October  Sir  Thomas  claimed  his 
bride  '  and  departed  Lismore  with  my  daughter  his  wife,  and 
I  gave  Sir  Thomas  a  fair  ambling  mare  and  a  pillion  furnished, 
and  Sara  ^5  in  her  purse,  and  accompanied  them  to  Clonmell, 
and  there  bare  their  charges,  and  sent  my  Lord  Barry,  Mr. 
Ralph  Horsie,  Mr.  Ruffen,  Percy  Smith  [his  nephew],  and 
James  Foster  [a  servant],  along  with  them.  And  my  wife  at 

1  L.  P.,  \\.  2.  no. 


MARRIAGES   OF   CONVENIENCE  153 

Sara's  departure  gave  her  a  ring  set  with  fine  diamonds,  and 
sent  also  two  fair  grey  coach  geldings  and  a  writing-table  book 
to  my  Lady  Moore  by  Thomas  Badnedge.' 

The  little  bride's  first  letter  home  must  be  given  in  her 
own  spelling;  her  writing  is  exquisite,  and  spelling  was  but 
a  matter  of  individual  taste  in  those  happy  days.  It  is  plain 
that  she  had  not  travelled  much  from  home  at  a  time  when 
most  journeys  were  done  on  horseback,  and  we  are  glad  to 
think  her  ride  to  County  Meath  was  done  '  with  a  greate  deale 
of  Eass.' 

*  MY  MOST  HONOURED  FATHER, — To  crave  your  bless- 
ing and  to  contineu  my  deuiful  respext  shall  ever  be  my 
greatest  ocatione  to  present  you  with  my  letters.  And  now  I 
must  crave  your  pardon  for  that  I  am  bould  to  kepe  your 
gildinge  that  careed  me  with  a  greate  deale  of  Eass  to  this  place. 
I  humbly  desier  that  he  maie  remaine  with  me  untill  I  becum 
a  better  horsewoman,  and  then  I  shall  not  faile  to  restore  him, 
and  thus  with  the  remembrance  of  my  most  devtifull  respeckt 
I  end,  your  honores  most  obedient  dauter,  SARA  MOORE.'  1 

This  letter  was  received  at  Lismore  on  the  first  of 
November  1623,  but  it  was  all  too  quickly  followed  by  one 
from  Sir  Laurence  Parsons,  who  wrote  in  December  :  '  With 
a  shaking  hand  and  sorrowful  heart  I  signify  unto  you  that 
Sir  Thomas  Moore  about  2  of  the  clock  this  afternoon 
departed  this  life,  where  I  was  present,  praying  with  others 
for  him,  but  he  was  speechless  before  I  came.  His  mother 
did  tear  herself  with  violence  of  passion,  and  the  Lady  Sara 
took  on  bitterly,  with  whom  I  stayed  all  the  afternoon  to 
comfort  her  the  best  I  could,  and  I  left  my  sister  with  her, 
who  is  continually  kind  to  her.  Grief  made  me  forget  a  main 

i  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  77- 


i54    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL  OF  CORK 

point  touching  Sir  Thomas  Moore,  he  died  strong  in  the 
true  faith,  prayed  continually,  repented  heartily,  and  assured 
himself  of  salvation  constantly ;  and  departed  meekly  and 
christianly,  and  had  good  memory  at  his  end.' 

As  soon  as  the  wintry  roads  were  passable  Lord  Cork  sent 
off  an  escort  under  charge  of  kind  Sir  John  Leeke,  to  bring 
the  baby  widow  home  again. 

Sir  Dudley  Norton  wrote  with  anxiety  : — 

*  I  shall  not  be  as  quiet  untill  I  hear  of  her  safety,  for  I 
know  she  had  a  most  bitter  and  dangerous  journey.  Good 
my  lord,  let  me  know  with  the  first  how  she  is  arrived.  .  .  . 
My  lady  your  daughter  hath  left  behind  her  both  there  and 
here  such  a  memory  of  her  modesty  goodness  and  virtue,  as 
could  not  be  expected  in  one  of  her  tender  age,  and  hath 
been  rarely  seen  in  one  of  riper  years.  But  nature  and  breed- 
ing have  well  concurred,  and  your  lordship  hath  reason  to  call 
her  as  you  do,  your  dearest  daughter.  For  my  part  I  admire 
her  and  will  ever  honour  her,  and  so  I  hope  all  the  family  of 
Mellifont  do,  for  she  hath  worthily  deserved  the  same.' l 

Poor  Lady  Moore  wrote  a  pathetic  letter  on  parting  with 
her  little  daughter-in-law  : — 

'  MY  MOST  NOBLE  LORD  AND  DEAR  BROTHER, — Your  Sudden 

sending  one  for  my  daughter  hath  bred  in  me  new  sorrow  : 
whilst  I  did  enjoy  her  company  mcthought  I  had  a  part  of  him 
that  loved  her  most  dearly.  I  durst  not  offer  to  stay  her  this 
bad  weather,  lest  it  might  be  displeasing  to  your  lordship  and 
the  rest  of  your  worthy  family.  I  must  confess  that  it  is 
much  against  my  mind  that  she  goes  in  this  bad  time.  With 
love  and  goodwill  of  all  that  know  her  is  she  gone  from 
hence.  My  sorrow  is  so  great  as  I  am  not  able  to  express.  I 

i  L.  P.,  11.  3.  123. 


MARRIAGES   OF   CONVENIENCE  155 

have  lost  my  dear  and  comfortable  son  on  whom  my  heart 
was  fixed,  and  now  his  lady  is  gone  from  me,  so  as  I  have  no 
memory  of  him  that  was  dearer  to  me  than  my  life,  but  his 
virtues  and  my  knowledge  of  him,  which  will  never  go  out  of 
my  mind  until  I  be  with  him  in  the  place  of  rest,  before 
which  time  I  would  be  glad  to  see  your  lordship  and  my 
daughter  if  it  may  be.  I  am  able  to  say  no  more  to  you  at 
this  time,  I  am  so  full  of  tears,  but  promise  faithfully  that  my 
perpetual  love  to  your  noble  family  shall  ever  live  with  me, 
though  God  hath  deprived  me  of  the  chief  bond  that  was 
between  us.  I  beseech  your  lordship  to  commend  my  love  to 
your  virtuous  lady  and  the  rest  of  your  worthy  family,  for 
whose  happiness  I  will  ever  pray,  and  will  be  to  them  in  heart 
as  if  my  son  and  daughter  had  continued  with  me  still.  I 
was  not  born  to  be  so  happy.  And  so  I  commit  you  to 
the  Almighty,  from  Mellifont  this  12  of  February, — Your 
lordship's  affectionate  and  true  loving  sister 

MARY  MOORE. M 

Lady  Moore  did  not  survive  her  son  long,  dying  two 
years  later  ;  but  the  intimacy  between  the  families  of  Lis- 
more  and  Mellifont  continued,  and  ten  years  after  there  was 
talk  of  a  marriage  between  Lord  Moore's  heir  and  the 
youngest  of  Lord  Cork's  daughters,  Margaret. 

Sara  remained  a  widow  for  three  years,  and  then  as  a  young 
lady  of  seventeen  married  Lord  Digby  of  Coleshill,  nephew  of 
that  wise  Earl  of  Bristol  who,  as  ambassador  at  Madrid,  had 
suffered  so  many  things  from  Prince  Charles  and  Buckingham 
at  the  time  of  the  Spanish  match.  Lord  Digby's  mother  was 
a  Geraldine  ;  she  bore  the  title  of  Lady  Offaley  in  her  own 
right,  and  her  son  inherited  from  her  the  barony  of  Geashill  in 

i  I.  P.,  11.3.91. 


1 56     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF  CORK 

County  Kildare.  Robert  Digby  and  Sara  were  married  at 
Lismore  on  Christmas.  Day,  and  their  eldest  child  was  born 
at  Lismore  the  following  October,  and  was  christened 
Katherine. 

Lord  Cork's  third  daughter  Lettice  remained  an  unmarried 
young  lady  at  home,  at  an  age  when  most  of  her  sisters  had 
been  long  established  in  houses  of  their  own.  There  is  no 
mention  of  her  being  placed  under  Lady  Clayton's  care,  and 
whether  from  that  reason  or  not,  Lettice's  writing  is  poorer 
and  her  spelling  worse  than  that  of  any  of  her  sisters.  The 
allusions  to  visits  to  Bath  make  it  probable  that  her  health  was 
not  good,  but  it  was  such  an  unprecedented  thing  for  a  well- 
dowered  young  lady  of  seventeen  to  be  still  unmarried  that 
one  cannot  help  suspecting  the  desire  to  give  Lettice  a  season 
in  London  was  one  of  the  reasons  that  carried  the  whole  Boyle 
family  to  England  in  1628.  There  a  husband  was  found  for 
her,  and  she  was  married  to  George  Goring,  eldest  son  of 
Lord  Goring,  afterwards  Earl  of  Norwich.  Lord  Cork's  diary 
gives  no  account  of  the  wedding,  nor  does  it  even  allude  to 
settlements  :  it  is  only  from  contemporary  gossip  that  we  learn 
the  bride  had  a  portion  of  ,£10,000.  George  Goring  was 
then  just  entering  public  life  ;  he  was  twenty,  just  a  year  older 
than  Lettice.  His  father  wrote  from  Tunbridge  Wells  in  July 
1629,  to  beg  Lord  Carlisle  to  present  'my  son  George,  a  new 
married  man,'  to  his  Majesty  as  '  ready  to  do  him  service  in 
any  and  all  ways.' l 

Lord  Cork's  time  in  England  in  1628  was  also  employed 
in  finding  out  the  real  value  of  a  match  that  had  been  im- 
pending for  several  years  between  his  fifth  daughter  Katherine 
arid  a  connection  of  Lady  Boyle's,  young  Sapcot  Beaumont. 
In  1622,  Lord  Beaumont  of  Coleorton,  'Coolorkin'  as  Lord 

1  Goring  to  Carlisle;  Mainwaring  to  Vane,  Col.  S.  P.  Dom.,  1629. 


MARRIAGES   OF   CONVENIENCE  157 

Cork  spells  it,  came  to  Lismore  a-wooing  for  his  son,  and 
Lady  Boyle  strongly  favoured  her  cousin's  suit.  Katherine's 
portion  was  to  be  ^4000,  and  in  return  Lord  Beaumont 
made  magnificent  promises.  The  bride  was  to  receive  a 
jointure  of  ^5000  a  year  and  a  house  ( furnished  in  all 
respects '  to  dispose  of  at  her  sole  pleasure,  and  a  lease  of 
lands  worth  ,£350  more. 

Lord  Cork  handed  over  £100  in  gold  as  earnest-money 
of  this  bargain,  and  presented  to  Lord  Beaumont  *  my  own 
yellow  saddle  gelding  my  Lord  President  bestowed  on  me, 
a  cast  of  falcons,  a  cast  of  merlins,  nine  bundles  of  mingled 
coloured  Irish  frieze,  and  a  barrel  of  pickled  scallops.'  It 
looks  as  if  the  Earl  in  his  delight  at  the  good  bargain  had 
ransacked  his  storehouse  to  find  enough  offerings  to  present 
to  Katherine's  future  father-in-law.  But  for  all  that  the 
omens  were  not  propitious  !  Two  months  after,  the  diary 
says,  '  I  received  notice  that  of  the  twenty  tons  of  iron  I  sent 
to  London  for  the  Lord  Beaumont  by  George  Gwyr,  he  being 
in  distress  at  sea  cast  overboard  three  tons  thereof.  God 
send  my  match  with  my  Lord  Beaumont  better  success  than 
this  beginning  doth  promise.' 

In  1624  the  little  girl  was  sent  off  to  be  brought  up  in 
Lord  Beaumont's  family,  but  Lord  Beaumont  died  shortly 
after,  and  when  Lord  Cork  visited  Lady  Beaumont  to  inquire 
as  to  his  daughter's  future  prospects,  he  had  to  enter  sadly 
in  his  diary,  '  I  had  shown  me,  and  by  her  ladyship's  licence 
took  copies  of,  the  former  conveyance  the  perfidious  Lord 
Beaumont,  deceased,  had  made  of  all  his  estates,  on  which  I 
had  paid  him  £3500,  of  which  I  find  myself  in  danger  to  be 
cozened  by  my  said  wife's  cozen !  *  The  Earl  had  lived  so 
long  in  Ireland  that  even  when  he  was  in  a  rage  he  could  not 
resist  a  joke  ;  it  must  also  have  been  a  comfort  to  him  to  be 


158     LIFE  OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 

able  to  say  that  it  was  all  Lady  Cork's  fault,  for  he  continues, 
'  who  with  her  kindred  and  friendship  drew  me,  much  against 
my  disposition,  to  yield  to  that  unfortunate  match  ! '  There 
had  not  been  much  sign  of  reluctance  about  the  barrel  of 
pickled  scallops ;  but  as  we  have  said,  no  doubt  it  was  an 
immense  consolation  to  say  '  I  told  you  so '  to  his  wife. 

Lord  Cork,  while  in  England,  was  so  much  busied  with 
lawsuits  and  visits  to  court  that  he  had  no  time  to  keep  any 
records  of  weddings,  but  it  must  have  been  about  this  time 
that  Katherine's  fate  was  finally  decided,  and  she  was  married 
to  Arthur  Jones,  the  son  of  one  of  his  oldest  and  most 
trusted  friends,  Viscount  Ranelagh.  Her  fortune  is,  how- 
ever, recorded,  and  the  agreement  that  the  ^"3000  should 
be  paid  over  to  Lord  Ranelagh  at  Strongbow's  tomb  in 
Christ  Church  Cathedral  on  Midsummer-day  1631,  showing 
that  Christ  Church  was  the  centre  of  Dublin  business,  as 
St.  Paul's  was  in  London. 

Lord  Cork  also  writes  later  on  that  Lord  Ranelagh 
'  bestowed  on  his  daughter-in-law,  my  Kate,  certain  unset 
diamonds  and  a  purse  with  £30  in  gold  pieces  therein,  and 
gave  her  a  rich  agate,  unset,'  which  stone  Lord  Ranelagh 
afterwards  took  over  to  England  *  to  change  or  alter  for 
Katy.' 

Katherine  was  the  most  distinctly  intellectual  of  the 
daughters  of  Lord  Cork,  and  the  tone  in  which  her  father 
writes  of  '  my  Kate,'  and  the  frequent  mentions  of  intrusting 
her  with  money  and  referring  to  her  on  business  matters, 
makes  it  probable  that  she  was  his  favourite  daughter.  She 
spent  much  of  her  married  life  in  his  Dublin  house,  but  her 
eldest  child  was  born  at  Athlone  Castle,  the  gloomy  Norman 
keep  that  King  John  had  built  to  overawe  the  wild  Irish  of 
Roscommon. 


MARRIAGES   OF   CONVENIENCE  159 

Dorothy,  Lord  Cork's  sixth  daughter,  was  sent  from  home 
when  but  nine  years  old,  to  be  educated  in  the  family  of  her 
future  husband,  Arthur,  son  of  Sir  Adam  Loftus.  She  seems 
to  have  become  absorbed  into  the  Loftus  family,  and  knew  no 
home  but  their  mansion  of  Rathfarnham. 


CHAPTER    X 

VANITY    FAIR 
1628 — 1629 

'Therefore  at  this  Fair  are  all  such  merchandise  sold  as  Houses,  Lands, 
Honours,  Preferment,  Titles,  Wives,  and  Husbands.' 

Pilgrim's  Progress. 

IN  1628  a  large  party  started  for  England  from  the  College 
House  at  Youghal.  Crossing  the  Channel  was  no  small 
adventure  in  these  days,  not  only  from  danger  of  pirates 
and  Sallee  Rovers,  but  also  because  the  vessels  in  use  could 
not  always  hold  their  own  against  the  south-westerly  gales 
that  drove  the  Atlantic  waves  thundering  upon  the  coast  of 
Ireland.  An  Earl  of  Desmond  and  an  Earl  of  Barrymore 
had  both  found  watery  graves  in  St.  George's  Channel ;  no 
wonder  therefore  that  the  Earl  of  Cork  made  his  last  will 
before  starting  on  the  voyage.  One  copy  of  this  important 
document  he  carried  with  him,  and  one  was  left  in  the  great 
iron  chest  at  Lismore,  whose  three  keys  were  kept  respectively 
by  Sir  William  Fenton,  James  Foster,  and  the  estate  agent, 
Mr.  Whalley. 

The  younger  children  of  the  family  were  left  in  Ireland, 
the  boys  under  the  care  of  their  tutor,  and  Mary  with  Lady 
Clayton,  who  had  fetched  her  in  March  from  Lismore. 

On  the  yth  of  May,  the  Boyle  family  bade  farewell 
to  Ireland,  and  sailed  in  a  '  Biskaner,'  a  ship  from  Biscay, 
which  the  Earl  hired  { to  waft  them  over.'  The  party  con- 
sisted of  Lord  and  Lady  Cork,  Lettice,  now  a  young  lady 


160 


VANITY   FAIR  161 

of  eighteen,  her  younger  sister  Joan,  Hodge  Power,  their 
cousin  from  Lisfinnon  Castle,  and  Arthur  Loftus,  Dorothy 
Boyle's  betrothed  husband,  who  was  on  his  way  to  join 
young  Dungarvan  at  Christ  Church,  where  Lord  Cork  lent 
him  £9,  155.  to  buy  a  piece  of  plate  to  present  to  the  college 
on  his  matriculation,  which  money  he  afterward  forgave  Arthur 
as  a  New  Year's  gift. 

They  sailed  about  five  in  the  afternoon,  and  when  morning 
dawned  they  were  espied  by  a  Dunkirk  privateer  with  two 
tiers  of  guns,  who  chased  them  all  day,  and  near  Milford 
Haven  ran  them  so  close  as  to  overtake  the  barque  that 
attended  them  to  carry  the  footmen  and  horses.  'And,'  says 
the  Earl,  '  having  in  our  sight  and  hearing  shot  twenty  pieces 
of  ordenance  at  it,  took  it,  and  carried  it  to  sea.' 

We  may  imagine  the  relief  of  the  party  when  they  arrived 
in  safety  at  Minehead,  and  landed  about  eight  in  the  evening. 
Of  the  fate  of  the  three  footmen  carried  off  by  the  privateer 
we  hear  no  more.  A  newsletter  of  the  date l  tells  us  that  the 
privateer  was  *  so  courteous  as  to  restore  my  Lord  of  Cork's 
horses  and  land  them  in  Wales,'  but  the  Earl  enters  nothing 
in  his  diary  save  the  sums  disbursed  to  pay  for  the  passage, 
and  the  presents  given  to  captain  and  crew. 

The  journey  to  London  was  taken  with  more  deliberation 
than  on  the  famous  occasion  when  Boyle  carried  the  news  of 
the  victory  of  Kinsale.  The  first  day  they  rode  as  far  as 
Taunton  and  rested  there  for  Sunday,  and  then  spent  suc- 
ceeding nights  at  Sherborne,  Amesbury,  Basing,  and  Staines, 
reaching  London  on  the  i6th  of  May.  They  established 
themselves  in  a  house  in  Channel  Row,  Westminster,  rented 
from  Lord  Grandison  for  ^100  a  year. 

Lord  Cork  had  not  merely  come  pleasuring  to  England, 

1  Court  and  Times,  Charles  /.,  p.  377. 
L 


1 62     LIFE  OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

for  serious  dangers  were  threatening  him,  and  the  very  day 
after  their  arrival  he  hurried  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  Duke 
of  Buckingham,  in  whose  all-powerful  hands  lay  his  future 
prosperity  or  beggary.  The  great  favourite  received  him 
cordially  and  kept  him  to  dinner,  and  then  took  him  to  the 
King,  *  whose  gracious  hands  I  had  the  honour  to  kiss,  accom- 
panied with  gracious  language  full  of  comfort.'  Contemporary 
gossip  hints  that  a  present  of  several  thousand  pounds  to 
Buckingham  had  procured  this  gracious  reception,  but  Lord 
Cork  only  writes  down  his  gifts  to  the  trumpeter,  and  to  his 
old  friend  Archie  Armstrong  the  court  jester,  who  was  still 
a  great  man  at  court.  In  after  years  he  overstrained  his  credit 
by  a  mock  grace  before  dinner, — 'All  praise  to  God  and  little 
laud  to  the  devil,'  whereon  Archbishop  Laud  had  him  turned 
out  of  his  place.  But  at  this  time  Laud  was  but  Bishop  of 
London,  and  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  still  the  learned 
George  Abbott,  whose  Puritan  leanings  were  marked  enough 
to  satisfy  even  such  a  severe  critic  as  Archie,  and  who  was  a 
good  friend  to  the  Earl  of  Cork.  Presents  of  Irish  manu- 
factures often  found  their  way  from  Youghal  to  Lambeth, 
a  runlet  of  usquebaugh,  or  a  piece  of  fine  Irish  frieze  to  make 
my  Lord  of  Canterbury  a  cassock  ;  and  once  '  a  large,  fair 
olive-coloured  Bezoir  stone,'  the  favourite  specific  against 
poison,  was  bought  by  the  Earl  from  his  goldsmith  cousin, 
Barsie,  for  £10,  and  sent  to  the  Archbishop  in  a  needlework 
purse  as  a  New  Year's  gift. 

Few  things  strike  one  as  odder  in  seventeenth-century 
manners  than  the  way  in  which  presents  were  passed  from 
hand  to  hand  by  people  who  could  very  well  afford  to  keep 
their  friends'  tokens  of  affection  and  buy  new  offerings  to 
give  away,  quite  in  the  fashion  in  which  Homeric  kings 
presented  their  guests  with  goblets  and  arms  which  they  them- 


VANITY   FAIR  163 

selves  had  received  from  some  far-famed  hero.  It  has  been 
noticed  by  a  modern  historian  how  '  the  rarity  of  coined 
moneys  in  Jacobean  times  brought  about  something  the  same 
condition  as  its  entire  absence  among  the  early  Greeks,  where 
the  modern  distinction  between  the  market  value  and  the 
sentimental  value  of  a  present  was  unknown.'  When  wealth 
consisted  largely  of  plate  and  ornaments  which  were  taken  in 
payment  and  used  for  barter  or  hoarded  against  times  of  need, 
'  even  the  gifts  of  friendship  were  not  considered  in  a  different 
light  from  a  money  present.' l 

A  particularly  splendid  present  was  sent  to  the  Earl  of 
Cork  by  Lady  Offaley,  Sara  Digby's  mother-in-law,  '  a  fair 
belt  and  girdle,  all  laced  over  with  silver  lace,  with  massive 
Spanish  buckles  and  furniture  of  goldsmith's  work,  worth 
twenty  marks,'  which,  much  as  the  Earl  admired  it,  was 
promptly  forwarded  as  a  gift  to  Lord  Castlehaven  !  Even 
a  mare  '  my  noble  friend  Donatus  Earl  of  Thomond  be- 
queathed to  me  by  his  will '  was  only  kept  for  a  while  and 
passed  on  about  this  time  to  Dean  Daborne  of  Lismore. 

But  presents  were  dear  to  Lord  Cork's  splendour-loving 
soul,  even  if  he  was  too  thrifty  to  keep  them  for  his  own 
delight.  He  describes  with  loving  detail  the  '  curious  case  of 
twelve  knives  with  agate  handles,  the  case  of  green  velvet 
laced  with  silver,'  which  the  customs  officers  of  Cork  gave  to 
him,  and  which  he  bestowed  on  Lord  Conway  this  Christmas 
of  1628. 

Christmas  in  London  was  such  an  exacting  season  that  the 
Earl's  stock  in  hand  of  valuables  became  soon  exhausted,  and  he 
had  to  buy  new  presents  to  the  amount  of  £216,  which,  if  we 
take  Mr.  Sidney  Lee's  calculation  of  the  then  value  of  money, 
would  be  equal  to  the  incredible  sum  of  £1728  nowadays. 

1  Mahaffey,  Survey  Greek  Civilization,  p.  52. 


164     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

But  these  presents  were  not  mere  tokens  of  affection  ;  the 
Earl  was  making  himself  friends  with  the  mammon  of  un- 
righteousness where  friends  were  seriously  needed,  and  the 
judges,  Hyde  and  Richardson,  were  given  silver  standishes. 
The  question  of  accepting  presents  was  a  delicate  one,  as 
Bacon  had  found  to  his  cost,  and  it  is  possible  that  they  were 
now  looked  on  as  something  of  a  retaining  fee,  for  Sir  John 
Denham  declined  the  standish  offered  to  him  as  to  the  other 
judges,  and  the  King's  secretary,  Sir  John  Cook,  refused  a 
present  of  gold.  Cottington  and  most  of  the  other  great 
men  about  court  were  sent  gilt-covered  cups  ;  the  Earl  of 
Suffolk  had  already  received  a  present  of  usquebaugh,  and  the 
stately  Earl  of  Arundel's  library  was  enriched  by  '  a  rare  little 
book  of  the  rare  monuments  of  the  world,  done  by  art  per- 
spective in  virgin  parchment  with  the  pen,  which  his  Lordship 
accepted  thankfully.' 

But  before  this  costly  Christmas  arrived  the  ladies  had 
been  presented  at  court.  This  ceremony  did  not  take  place 
till  they  had  been  a  month  or  more  in  England.  It  is 
possible  that  Mr.  Perkins,  the  tailor,  and  the  making  of 
court  dresses  had  something  to  do  with  the  delay,  for  about 
this  time  ^136  was  paid  to  him  for  gold  and  silver  lace  for 
the  ladies'  wearing.  Sir  John  Leeke  had,  as  usual,  to  help  in 
the  shopping,  and  used  his  interest  with  '  the  Lady  Verney's 
man '  to  get  eight  yards  of  rich  gold-cloth  for  twelve  pounds. 
When  all  the  smart  gowns  were  ready,  Sir  Thomas  Stafford 
and  c  the  great  ladies  in  court '  presented  Lady  Cork  and  her 
daughters  to  Henrietta  Maria,  '  who  kissed  them  and  used 
them  all  most  graciously.' 

As  the  summer  advanced  the  house  in  Westminster  became 
too  confined  for  a  family  used  to  the  green  fields  of  Munster, 
and  the  Earl  of  Bedford  '  most  nobly,'  as  Lord  Cork  writes, 


VANITY   FAIR  165 

lent  his  house  at  Northall  to  the  family,  and  they  removed  to 
it  on  the  fifth  of  August,  and  afterwards  spent  a  lively  autumn 
in  a  round  of  country  visits. 

At  Lord  Digby's  house  at  Coleshill  they  found  little 
Katherine,  whose  match  with  Lord  Beaumont's  son  was  now 
finally  broken  off,  and  who  was  awaiting  her  parents  under  her 
sister  Sara  Digby's  care.  After  staying  at  various  friendly 
mansions  the  whole  family  arrived  in  Oxford,  where  Lady 
Digby's  second  daughter  was  born,  and  the  Ladies  Boyle  were 
entertained  by  three  undergraduates,  Dungarvan,  Arthur 
Loftus,  and  their  friend  the  wild  young  Earl  of  Kildare, 
not  to  mention  a  more  dignified  personage,  Lady  Cork's 
uncle  Dr.  Weston,  a  canon  of  Christ  Church.  On  leaving, 
Lord  Cork  presented  a  manuscript  Bible  to  Christ  Church 
library,  and  paid  three  and  sixpence  for  having  it  bound. 

When  the  Oxford  visit  was  ended  the  Earl  of  Cork  and 
his  party  rode  back  to  London  by  Maidenhead,  and  stopped 
at  Eton,  where  like  any  modern  visitor  he  dined  and 
tipped  five  schoolboys.  '  I  took  Lady  Villiers'  three  sons 
and  Mr.  Glanville's  two  sons  to  dinner  with  me  at  Windsor, 
where  I  gave  the  children  thirty  shillings.  And  that  night, 
Oct.  7,  God  ever  be  thanked,  I  and  mine  returned  safe  to 
London.' 

Two  of  these  Eton  boys  were  the  sons  of  Mr.  John 
Glanville,  the  great  lawyer,  of  whose  skill  Lord  Cork  just 
now  was  in  sore  need.  He  had  for  long  had  two  troublesome 
lawsuits  on  his  hands,  one  with  poor  Lady  Ralegh  con- 
cerning her  rights  of  dower  from  Youghal,  the  other  with 
Blacknoll,  the  knavish  manager  of  his  ironworks  in  the 
Blackwater  Valley  ;  but  what  was  more  serious  than  either 
suit,  this  knavish  Blacknoll  had  lately  been  communicating 
with  Mr.  Hadsor,  the  King's  lawyer,  concerning  the  titles  to 


1 66     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

a  large  portion  of  the  estates  bought  from  Ralegh,  and  the 
claims  that  the  Crown  might  lay  to  them.  There  had  even 
been  rumours  that  the  great  Earl  of  Cork  would  be  summoned 
to  England  as  a  criminal  to  answer  for  his  wrongful  possession 
of  Crown  lands  ! 

The  State  papers  of  the  time  are  crammed  with  letters  and 
reports  on  the  subject,  for  the  chance  of  recovering  property 
worth  at  least  ^50,000  was  too  tempting  for  the  King  to 
relinquish  easily.  At  first  the  Crown  lawyers  expressed  a 
doubt  whether  the  original  grant  to  Ralegh  was  valid,  as 
possibly  the  estates  had  never  been  really  forfeited  by 
Desmond  at  all,  '  rebellion  being  no  attainder  without  con- 
viction ' !  But  Lord  Cork's  lawyers  proved  that  although 
there  had  been  a  delay  in  convicting  Desmond  of  treason,  a 
bill  of  attainder  against  him  had  been  finally  passed  by  the 
Irish  Parliament,  and  that  point  was  settled  in  his  favour. 
But  yet  Sir  William  St.  Leger,  who  himself  had  owned  some 
of  the  same  forfeited  lands,  wrote  cynically  in  1627  that  Lord 
Cork's  best  chance  of  security  would  be  to  give  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham  four  thousand  pounds,  and  another  thousand  to 
the  King's  servant,  Endymion  Porter.  Whether  the  Earl  of 
Cork  adopted  this  plan  or  not,  he  had  old  experience  of  the 
wisdom  of  pleading  his  own  cause,  and  he  had  come  to 
England  without  waiting  to  be  sent  for.  His  persuasive 
tongue  and  his  powerful  friends  might  do  much  for  him  at 
court,  and  in  Ireland  he  left  behind  him  a  staunch  ally,  the 
Lord  Deputy  Falkland.  Cork  had  stood  by  Falkland  when 
he  was  thwarted  in  the  Irish  Council  and  maligned  in  England, 
and  now  Falkland  wrote  of  him,  alluding  sadly  enough  to  the 
Irish  nobles  who  had  slipped  over  to  England  to  slander  him 
in  the  King's  ear,  *  Lord  Cork  leaves  on  good  terms  with  me 
and  does  not  steal  away  as  others  have  done.  He  is  a  prime 


VANITY   FAIR  167 

peer  of  the  realm,  and  if  you  take  him  for  the  fine  pillar  of 
your  province  of  Munster  you  shall  not  mistake  him.' l 

Lord  Cork  had  consulted  Mr.  Glanville,  the  lawyer,  at 
Broad  Hinton  during  his  stay  in  Oxford,  and  also  arranged 
with  the  well-known  Noye  to  act  as  his  second  counsel,  and 
offered  him  ten  pieces  as  a  retaining  fee,  '  whereof  he  took 
but  two  and  enforced  the  other  back  on  me.  I  also  gave  his 
clerk  twenty-six  shillings  and  presented  him  with  a  fair  young 
mastif  dog.'  The  Attorney-General  Heath  was  also  paid  two 
hundred  pounds  as  a  fee  '  with  promise  of  further  thankful- 
ness.' Perhaps  the  great  lawyers  looked  with  the  more  favour 
on  the  Earl  of  Cork  as  about  this  time  he  was  admitted  a 
bencher  of  the  Middle  Temple.2 

Noye,  Glanville,  and  Condrop  drew  up  the  draft  of  a 
warrant  for  an  entirely  new  grant  of  the  estates  to  Lord  Cork 
to  make  them  secure  to  him  for  ever,  and  in  April  1629  judg- 
ment on  it  was  delivered  by  Lord  Keeper  Coventry,  Baron 
Denham,  and  Baron  Trevor  ;  the  Attorney-General,  Solicitor- 
General,  and  all  the  judges  agreeing  'that  nothing  Mr.  Hadsor 
or  the  King's  Council  could  urge  ought  to  stay  the  sealing  of 
this  patent,'  and  after  yet  a  second  examination  it  was  signed 
and  passed  under  the  Great  Seal  of  England,  '  for  the  com- 
passing of  which,'  writes  Lord  Cork,  ( I  am  much  bound  to 
Lord  Coventry,  Lord  Keeper  of  England.'  That  Coventry 
was  on  Lord  Cork's  side  is  enough  to  show  on  which  side 
justice  lay,  and  Cork  must  have  felt  his  lands  were  at  last 
securely  his  own. 

The  fees  paid  in  the  case  amounted  to  £386,  ys.  4.6..  ; 
but  that  included  a  payment  for  the  King's  release  of  Lord 
Cork  for  some  asserted  infringement  of  custom-house  rules  in 
his  iron  trade,  no  doubt  divulged,  or,  as  the  Earl  asserted, 

1  Cal.  S.  P.  Ire.,  April  1628.  2  March  5,  1629. 


1 68     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

invented,  by  Blacknoll,  when  he  offered  to  secure  the  Earl's 
ironworks  for  the  Crown. 

Lady  Ralegh's  lawsuit  was  not  settled  so  quickly.  The 
dower  she  claimed  from  the  Munster  estates  sold  by  her 
husband  to  Boyle  amounted  to  a  third  of  the  original 
purchase-money,  that  is  to  say,  five  hundred  pounds.  This 
was  perhaps  not  a  large  sum  for  such  a  wealthy  man  to  pay 
over  to  the  impoverished  widow  of  his  best  friend,  but  when 
demanded  as  a  right,  Boyle  became  exceedingly  indignant,  and 
asserted  the  claim  was  both  unjust  and  ungrateful.  He  upheld 
that  in  buying  lands  with  such  a  doubtful  title  and  paying  the 
money  to  their  attainted  owner  he  had  acted  with  quixotic 
generosity,  and  far  from  owing  dower  to  Lady  Ralegh  he 
need  not  have  paid  Sir  Walter  himself  the  thousand  pounds 
due  for  the  land  at  the  time  of  his  imprisonment. 

Lady  Ralegh  carried  her  case  to  court  after  court,  and  one 
friend  after  another  tried  their  powers  as  mediators  in  vain. 

Cork  must  have  spent  the  five  hundred  she  claimed  over 
and  over  again  in  law  expenses,  but  he  was  an  angry  man, 
and  every  year  made  him  more  determined  to  prove  that  he 
was  right  and  she  was  wrong. 

Sir  George  Carew,  now  Earl  of  Totnes,  was  put  into  a 
difficult  position  by  this  feud.  On  the  one  hand  was  his 
kinswoman,  Lady  Ralegh,  who  turned  to  him  as  her  only 
champion  ;  on  the  other  was  his  old  friend,  Richard  Boyle, 
who  had  purchased  these  lands  by  his  advice.  Carew  did  his 
best  to  reconcile  the  two,  but  with  little  success.  He  apolo- 
gised to  Cork,  as  one  man  of  the  world  to  another,  for  the 
vehemence  of  poor  Lady  Ralegh's  assertions.  '  Her  style,' 
he  wrote,  *  is  round  and  quick,  which  in  women  may  be 
excused ! '  He  also  warned  Boyle  that  as  Lady  Ralegh  was 
very  cheerful  over  her  expectation,  it  would  be  wise  to  '  fall 


VANITY   FAIR  169 

to  accord  with  her  by  some  arbitrary  course,'  clearly  some 
course  of  arbitration,  '  always  provided  that  I  may  be  spared 
by  you  two  from  having  any  finger  in  the  business.'  So  in 
July  1624  Cork  had  consented  'to  refer  my  Lady  Ralegh's 
demand  of  dower  to  four  or  six  judges  in  England  to  be 
mutually  chosen.'  But  for  some  reason  or  other  this  course 
was  not  taken,  and  to  make  the  difficult  case  more  difficult  a 
very  accomplished  rascal  was  found  to  be  involved  in  it.  This 
man,  John  Meares,  had  been  Ralegh's  bailiff  at  Sherburne, 
where  he  learned,  said  Ralegh,  '  to  write  my  hand  so  perfectly 
as  I  cannot  in  any  way  discern  the  difference.'  'That 
dampned  rogue,'  as  Boyle  called  him,  now  endeavoured  to 
blackmail  both  Boyle  and  Lady  Ralegh  by  showing  them 
by  turns  all  sorts  of  important  deeds  which  he  threatened  to 
make  public  unless  he  were  well  paid.  At  last,  during  Cork's 
stay  in  London  in  1629,  he  and  the  Raleghs  were  driven  to 
join  together  against  Meares,  and  had  a  formal  meeting  in 
the  Middle  Temple  about  one  of  these  forged  deeds,  when  in 
the  presence  of  two  lawyers  chosen  by  each  side  '  Mr.  Shel- 
bury,  solicitor  for  Lady  Ralegh  and  her  son,  did  in  discourse, 
three  several  times  acknowledge  that  he  could  not  remember 
nor  was  witness  to  any  such  deed.' 

Soon  after  this  interview  the  claim  was  at  last  heard  by 
the  Lord  Keeper,  but  he  declined  to  give  judgment,  and 
referred  it  back  to  be  heard  by  common  law  in  Ireland  ;  and 
— we  know  no  more !  Whether  this  last  appeal  was  success- 
ful, whether  the  claim  was  ever  heard  in  the  Irish  courts  at  all, 
and  how  it  was  decided,  no  one  knows.  There  is  no  record 
of  the  case  being  tried  in  Dublin,  and  no  note  of  it  in  Boyle's 
diary.  Possibly  the  poor  lady  lost  courage  and  gave  way,  and 
then  Boyle,  after  his  usual  fashion,  would  cool  down  and  pay 
her  some  small  compensation.  Some  difficulties  must,  how- 


i  yo     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF  CORK 

ever,  have  remained  unsettled,  for  when  Carew  Ralegh  was 
restored  in  blood,  and  the  ban  of  treason  taken  off  his  name, 
Lord  Cork  thought  well  to  take  measures  to  have  a  proviso 
for  his  own  safety  inserted  in  the  Act  of  Parliament,  which 
proviso,  he  noted,  cost  him  in  fees  to  counsel  and  officers  one 
hundred  pounds. 

But  even  these  great  lawsuits  were  but  items  in  Lord 
Cork's  busy  days  in  London.  Foreign  iron-merchants  were 
to  be  bargained  with,  courtiers  flattered  or  bribed,  old  friends 
assisted,  while  every  post  from  Munster  brought  commissions 
and  petitions  to  the  '  all  knowing  Earl  of  Cork.'  Now  it  was 
Lord  Killeen  who  wished  Lady  Buckingham  to  be  paid  seven 
hundred  pounds  to  buy  her  help  in  securing  an  earl's  patent  ; 
now  it  was  a  letter  of  lamentations  over  the  flood  that  had 
swept  away  Mallow  bridge,  and  now  Mr.  Hardress  Waller's 
acknowledgment  of  the  rents  the  Earl  allowed  his  Irish  agent 
to  collect  for  his  friends.1  Then  came  news  of  Mr.  Waller's 
wedding  with  Sir  John  Dowdall's  daughter,  and  a  pair  of  rich 
wedding  gloves,  and  a  nightcap  wrought  by  the  bride's  fair 
fingers  in  gold-coloured  silk.  And  in  all  Lord  Cork's  expedi- 
tions, whether  of  business  or  of  pleasure,  faithful  Sir  John 
Leeke  was  his  unwearied  companion  and  confidant. 

There  were  plenty  of  poor  Irish  stranded  in  the  great  city 
of  London  who  needed  the  help  of  their  wealthy  countryman. 
A  certain  Maurice  Fitzgerald,  who  was  found  begging  with  his 
wife  and  children,  was  given  ten  shillings  and  a  pass  back  to 
Ireland  ;  and  Mr.  Thomas  Stephens  of  Broghill  had  for  two 

1  Sir  Hardress  Waller,  son  of  George  Waller  of  Groombridge,  Kent.  Settled  in 
Ireland  about  1630,  and  acquired  the  estates  of  Castletown,  County  Limerick,  by  his 
marriage  with  Sir  J.  Dowdall's  daughter.  He  voted  for  the  death  of  King  Charles, 
and  was  a  warm  supporter  of  Cromwell.  He  escaped  to  France  at  the  Restoration, 
but  returned  and  surrendered  himself,  and  was  imprisoned  for  life.  Died  about  1616 
in  Jersey. 


VANITY   FAIR  171 

months  his  diet  in  the  Earl's  house,  by  reason  of  his  extreme 
poverty,  and  when  Sir  Edmund  Verney  engaged  him  as  a  butler 
Lord  Cork  gave  him  his  own  suit  of  camlet  doublet,  hose,  and 
cloak,  and  forty  shillings  in  money. 

In  October  Lord  and  Lady  Cork  and  their  daughters  rode 
to  Deptford,  to  see  the  monument  newly  erected  to  the 
memory  of  the  Earl's  eldest  son,  little  Hodge,  and  of  Lady 
Cork's  circumnavigating  uncle,  Captain  Fenton.  Lord  Cork 
seems  to  have  got  good  value  for  his  money,  for  the  great 
erection  in  Deptford  church  cost  only  ^38  ;  but  the  alabaster 
portrait  tomb  by  the  same  sculptor,  which  the  Earl  erected  to 
his  parents  at  Faversham,  cost  one  hundred  pounds.1 

Six  months  after  Lord  Cork  had  erected  the  memorial  to 
his  eldest  son  was  born  his  fifteenth  and  youngest  child. 
The  baby  was  christened  Margaret,  and  was  as  usual  sent  out 
to  nurse,  and  her  family  saw  no  more  of  her  till  two  years 
later  her  sister  Lettice  Goring  was  travelling  to  Ireland,  and 
brought  little  Margaret  home  with  her. 

The  following  July,  1629,  the  crowning  honour  of  Lord 
Cork's  life  came  to  him  :  the  King  commanded  that  the 
Earl  of  Cork  and  the  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland  should 
be  justices  of  that  kingdom  till  a  deputy  was  appointed. 
There  could  be  no  question  now  that  Lord  Cork  had  done 
well  in  coming  over  to  England.  His  vast  experience  of 
Irish  politics  had  no  doubt  impressed  serious  statesmen 
as  much  as  his  wealth  and  splendour  had  influenced  the 
courtiers.  It  is,  however,  a  curious  coincidence  that  the 
King  had  shortly  before  secured  a  loan  from  the  Munster 
millionaire.  Before  leaving  Ireland  Cork  had  expended 
£500  on  the  necessities  of  the  King's  ships  there, 

1  This  tomb  bears  full-length  figures  of  Roger  and  Joan  Boyle,  with  their  sons  the 
Earl  of  Cork  and  Bishop  of  Cork  kneeling  at  head  and  foot. 


172     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

and  £500  for  the  endless  task  of  making  the  forts  of 
Cork  and  Waterford  defensible  ;  and  instead  of  paying  his  debt, 
the  King  had  suggested  in  the  April  of  1629  that  Lord  Cork 
should  lend  him  ^14,000  more,  taking  in  return  the  farm  of 
the  Irish  customs  and  a  monopoly  on  tobacco  farmed  by  a  man 
named  Jacob. 

The  loyal  and  prudent  old  Earl  knew  it  was  unadvisable  to 
say  nay  to  a  monarch's  request,  and  fortunately  was  able  at 
once  to  supply  £2000  which  he  had  at  hand,  lodged  with  the 
banker  Burlemachi,  but  '  the  differences,'  he  writes,  *  between 
his  Majesty  and  his  subjects  since  the  tumultuary  Parliament's 
dissolution  about  tonnage  and  poundage  hath  so  decryed  and 
discredited  the  officers  of  the  customs,  as  Mr.  Jacob  and  his 
sons  have  not  credit  nor  power  to  perform  their  promise  and 
intendment,  and  have  left  me  to  my  shifts  to  take  up,  upon 
use  and  interest,  another  £12,000,  which  God  grant  for  the 
preservation  of  my  credit  I  may  be  able  here  to  compass.' 

It  was  but  a  small  part  of  this  sum  after  all  which  he  was 
obliged  to  borrow  from  Burlemachi ;  the  iron  in  his  store- 
houses supplied  most  of  the  money,  and  Cork's  favour  at 
court  could  not  but  wax  accordingly. 

The  Earl  of  Cork's  future  colleague  as  Lord  Justice  was 
Adam  Loftus,  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland.  Loftus  was  a 
diligent,  resourceful,  and  unscrupulous  lawyer,1  but  clever 
though  he  was,  he  was  not  always  diplomatic  enough  to  control 
his  temper,  and  his  sharp  words  had  aroused  a  feud  of  long 
standing  between  him  and  Lord  Cork.  The  quarrel  was  so 
characteristic  of  both  parties,  and  was  indeed  so  much  a  matter 
of  public  interest,  that  we  may  perhaps  delay  a  moment  to 
give  its  history,  for  even  the  King,  the  Duke  of  Buckingham, 
and  the  whole  Council  spent  four  hours  in  endeavouring  to 

1  See  Introd.  S.  P.  Ire.,  1630. 


VANITY   FAIR  173 

compose  it,  and  in  investigating  the  charges  which  both  Cork 
and  the  retiring  Lord  Deputy  Falkland  brought  against  the 
Chancellor.  These  charges,  a  contemporary  newsletter  says, 
Lord  Loftus  met  c  with  such  modesty  and  wisdom  as  was 
admired  by  all  that  heard  him,'  showing  that  Lord  Loftus 
could  occasionally  put  on  court  manners.  The  King  finally 
referred  the  case  to  the  Duke  of  Buckingham,  who,  although 
he  at  first  seemed  inclined  to  side  with  Lord  Cork,  yet 
c  allowed  the  Chancellor  to  come  fairly  off.' l 

The  feud,  like  most  of  those  in  which  Lord  Cork  was 
concerned,  appears  to  have  begun  over  a  loan  which  Lord 
Loftus  had  repaid  in  an  unbusinesslike  and  uncourteous 
manner.  Then  Lord  Cork  took  his  revenge.  The  Chancellor 
had  borrowed  money  on  Cre  Eustace  (now  Ballymore  Eustace) 
from  a  certain  Sir  Nicholas  White  ;  Cork  got  this  mortgage 
from  Sir  Nicholas,  and  when  to  his  delight  the  Chancellor 
failed  to  pay  up,  he  hastened  to  foreclose  and  the  land 
became  his  ! 

Lord  Loftus  was  so  chagrined  that  he  did  not  attempt  to 
conceal  his  feelings,  even  when  sitting  in  court,  and  unfor- 
tunately was  soon  after  called  on  to  adjudicate  in  a  land  case 
in  which  his  enemy  was  concerned.  This  case,  between  the 
Earl  of  Cork  and  Sir  William  Power,  over  the  boundaries  or 
'  mearings  '  of  their  lands,  occupies  half  the  State  papers  of  the 
time,  and  half  the  great  men  of  the  country  were  dragged 
into  the  quarrel.  Finally  the  case  was  carried  before  Lord 
Chancellor  Loftus,  who,  being  just  then  in  a  very  ill-humour 
with  Lord  Cork,  openly  sided  with  Power. 

The  Earl  describes  with  indignation  that  when  he  gave 
reasons  for  some  point  not  being  entered  into,  '  the  Lord 
Chancellor  said,  "  I  would  examine  the  witness  to  conform  my 

1  Court  and  Times  of  Charles  /.,  p.  377. 


174    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

conscience,  but  the  PERVERSENESS  of  this  Earl  of  Cork 
will  not  give  way  thereto."  Whereunto  I  answering  that 
my  carriage  deserved  not  such  disgraceful  language,  neither 
would  I  endure  it,  His  Lordship  replied,  "  Do  you  grumble?" 
And  in  open  court  when  I  attended  justice  at  his  hands  he 
gave  me  other  affronts  and  storms  of  which  I  have  complained 
to  the  King's  Majesty  and  Lord  Deputy.'  In  spite  of  the 
Chancellor's  favour  Power  lost  his  cause  and  was  ordered  to 
publicly  apologise  on  his  knees  for  his  slanders.  For  ten 
long  years  he  struggled  against  this  degradation,  till  at  last 
Lord  Cork,  having  many  sorrows  of  his  own,  softened  towards 
his  old  adversary  and  consented  to  end  the  debate  by  receiving 
Power's  submission  privately  in  his  bedchamber,  with  only 
Lord  Esmond  and  Sir  Piers  Crosby  as  witnesses.  Then  the 
boundary  question  was  discussed  in  a  reasonable  spirit,  certain 
outlying  portions  on  either  side  were  exchanged,  and  the 
great  suit  was  at  an  end. 

But  the  quarrel  with  Loftus  did  not  close  so  easily,  but 
lasted  to  the  end  of  Lord  Cork's  long  life.  Lord  Cork's 
industry  in  chronicling  every  event  of  his  life  made  it  par- 
ticularly difficult  for  him  to  forget,  or  forgive,  and  it  was 
indeed  a  strange  irony  of  fate  that  dashed  his  day  of 
greatness,  by  compelling  him  to  share  the  dignity  of  Lord 
Justice  with  the  one  man  in  Ireland  who  had  publicly  insulted 
him.  There  is  no  comment  on  the  subject  in  the  diary.  Cork 
was  much  too  correct  ever  to  speak  or  write  of  his  Majesty's 
doings  but  in  the  most  conventional  terms  of  respect. 

He  does  not  appear  to  have  kissed  hands  on  his  new 
appointment  for  some  time,  the  journal  only  mentioning  the 
usual  round  of  junketings.  In  August  '  I  and  my  wife  and 
the  children  went  from  Newington  Green  to  Kingston  upon 
Thames,  where  we  were  bravely  feasted  at  dinner  by  my 


VANITY   FAIR  175 

cousin  Croon  of  the  King's  Head  in  Fleet  Street,  and  after 
dinner  we  rode  to  my  Lord  Goring  at  Nonsuch.' 

The  evening  after  these  visits  to  the  vintner  and  to  Lord 
Goring,  whose  handsome  eldest  son  had  just  become  the 
husband  of  Lettice  Boyle,  the  Earl  was  at  last  admitted  to  an 
audience  with  the  King  at  Oatlands,  where  he  had  'a  large 
and  most  gracious  conference  with  his  Majesty,'  and  no  doubt 
received  the  royal  instructions  on  the  conduct  of  Irish  affairs. 

There  was  now  nothing  further  to  keep  the  family  in 
England  ;  Lettice  was  married,  a  future  match  for  Joan  with 
the  Earl  of  Kildare  was  arranged,  and  the  duties  of  the  Lord 
Justice  now  called  him  back  to  Ireland. 

The  journey  home  was  broken  at  Oxford  that  the  Earl 
might  ride  over  to  Woodstock  to  receive  despatches  from  Lord 
Dorchester,  and  take  leave  of  his  court  acquaintances. 

The  triumphant  Lord  Justice  scattered  money  in  all 
directions.  Dorchester's  secretaries  were  given  five  pounds 
each  ;  the  children  of  Dr.  lies,  Principal  of  Hart  Hall,  and  of 
Dr.  Piers,  Canon  of  Christ  Church,  were  given  twenty  shillings; 
Dr.  Weston's  servant  five  pounds  ;  and  ( the  nurse  of  my 
daughter  Sara's  child  twenty  shillings.'  Dungarvan  received 
his  share  of  the  good  things  going,  and  was  the  richer  by  ten 
pounds.  The  only  cloud  was  the  settlement  of  household 
bills,  for  the  Earl  wrote,  '  came  to  an  unhappy  account  with 
the  sly  W.  Britton  my  steward.  God  forgive  him  all  the 
wrongs  he  did  me  in  his  accounts.' 

Paying  visits  as  they  went,  the  family  travelled  by  Coventry 
and  Stone  to  Conway,  and  so  to  the  favourite  place  of  embar- 
cation  Beaumaris,  where  Lord  Cork  hired  a  vessel  to  carry 
them  to  Ireland.  But  as  he  was  preparing  to  embark,  a  King's 
ship  came  in  sight,  and  proved  to  be  the  Ninth  Whelp,  one  of 
ten  pinnaces  named  the  Lion's  Whelps,  lately  built  at  the  royal 


176     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

dockyard  at  Deptford,1  and  now  sent  to  convey  the  Lord 
Justice  to  Ireland  with  due  state. 

Even  a  King's  ship  could  not  ensure  a  fair  wind.  When 
Lord  Cork  had  compensated  the  owner  of  the  less  glorious 
vessel,  and  was  ready  to  go  aboard  the  Ninth  Whety,  the 
weather  became  so  threatening  that  the  Whelp  had  to  take 
refuge  in  the  Dawpool  in  Chester  Water.  On  the  last  day  of 
September  the  party  ventured  to  embark,  but  found  the  wind 
still  stiff  against  them,  and  had  to  go  ashore  again  till  the  next 
day  ;  then  at  last  on  the  ist  of  October  'God  sent  us  a  fair 
wind  and  we  had  a  safe  and  happy  passage,  and  arrived  at 
Ringsend  near  Dublin,  on  Friday  the  2nd  about  ten  of  the 
forenoon  in  safety.  God  be  ever  praised  for  all  his  blessings 
and  mercies.' 

Ten  pounds  were  distributed  among  the  crew,  and  Captain 
Rice  was  presented  with  '  a  pair  of  rich  gloves,  fringed  and 
embroidered  with  gold,  which  I  had  of  the  Earl  of  Antrim, 
and  I  gave  my  wife  to  give  him  a  wrought  night-cap  of  black 
silk  and  gold.' 

1  Court  and  Times  of  Charles  L,  July  1628. 


CHAPTER    XI 

THE   LORD   JUSTICE 
1629  — 


'  Fair  laughs  the  morn,  and  soft  the  zephyr  blows, 
While  proudly  riding  o'er  the  azure  realm 
In  gallant  trim  the  gilded  vessel  goes  .  .   . 
Regardless  of  the  sweeping  whirlwind's  sway 
That  hushed  in  grim  repose  expects  his  evening  prey.' 

GRAY. 

THE  Earl  of  Cork  had  now  reached  the  summit  of  his  great- 
ness. From  obscurity  he  had  raised  himself  to  be  ruler  of  a 
kingdom,  and  it  was  no  wonder  that,  looking  back  on  his  career, 
he  declared  unassisted  human  power  could  never  have  accom- 
plished such  a  task.  He  stood  at  the  top  of  fortune's  wheel  ; 
but  even  as  he  reached  its  summit,  the  wheel  turned  on,  and 
with  a  contrast  as  vivid  as  that  of  a  Greek  tragedy,  carried 
him  down  into  the  pit  of  humiliation,  of  bereavement,  and 
wellnigh  total  ruin. 

But  for  the  time  the  sun  shone,  and  everything  combined 
to  gild  the  triumph  of  the  successful  man,  save  for  the  one 
unfortunate  fact  that  he  had  to  share  this  triumph  with  Lord 
Chancellor  Loftus. 

The  departing  Lord  Deputy  Falkland  liked  Loftus  quite 
as  little  as  did  Lord  Cork.  It  is  very  probable  that  Loftus, 
who  was  an  abler  man  than  either  of  them,  had  not  taken  the 
trouble  to  hide  his  opinion  of  the  Deputy.  In  order,  however, 

M 


1 78     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

that  there  might  be  a  decent  leave-taking,  the  King  com- 
missioned Lord  Wilmot,  the  Commander  of  the  Irish  army, 
to  endeavour  to  reconcile  the  Chancellor  with  the  departing 
Deputy,  as  well  as  with  his  fellow  Lord  Justice. 

Wilmot  accordingly  did  his  best  to  induce  Lord  Cork  to 
make  the  first  move  towards  a  reconciliation,  but  no  sunshine 
of  prosperity  could  make  the  great  Earl  a  malleable  man,  and 
he  flatly  refused  to  visit  Lord  Loftus,  who  turned  the  corner 
of  the  difficulty  very  neatly  by  sending  his  son-in-law,  Sir 
Robert  Meredith,  to  congratulate  the  Earl  on  his  safe  arrival 
in  Ireland,  a  civility  which  Cork  returned  with  equal  formality 
by  sending  his  gentleman,  Badnedge,  to  present  his  thanks 
and  service  to  the  Chancellor. 

The  two  great  men,  however,  met  on  neutral  ground  at 
the  house  of  the  departing  Lord  Deputy,  where  civil  salutations 
passed  between  them,  and  on  the  4th  of  the  month  Lord 
Wilmot  brought  news  to  the  Earl  that  the  Lord  Chancellor 
was  willing  to  meet  him  after  afternoon  sermon  in  the  Council 
Chamber.  c  Thither,'  Lord  Cork  writes,  '  we  came  from 
church,  and  all  the  company  being  outed,  the  Lord  Wilmot 
delivered  me  the  King's  letter  to  me  directed,  saying  he  had 
delivered  his  Majesty's  letter  to  the  like  effect  to  the  Lord 
Chancellor  before,  which  his  Lordship  acknowledged.  And 
then  using  some  persuasion  to  that  reconciliation  which  the 
King  had  commanded  and  whereunto  I  was  prepared,  we 
both,  in  the  Lord  Wilmot's  presence,  duly  made  our  reconcilia- 
tion, with  many  protestations  to  forgive  and  forget  all  former 
wrongs  and  unkindnesses,  and  to  be  thenceforward  faithful, 
loving  friends,  and  to  join  really  in  the  King's  service  ;  which 
I  beseech  God  his  Lordship  observe  as  religiously  as  I  resolve 
to  do,  if  new  provocations  enforce  me  not  to  alter  my 
resolutions.' 


THE   LORD  JUSTICE  179 

Such  a  reconciliation  was  hardly  likely  to  be  a  lasting  one, 
and  the  war  broke  out  again,  almost  before  Lord  Falkland 
was  on  shipboard  ;  for  the  Chancellor  lost  no  time  in  taking 
sole  possession  of  the  insignia  of  authority,  and  carried  off  the 
official  sword  and  mace  home  with  him  to  St.  Mary's  Abbey, 
without  any  word  of  apology  or  explanation  to  his  fellow 
Lord  Justice.  From  this  time  forward  the  Council  Chamber 
was  a  stage  for  lively  scenes ;  over  one  case  the  Lords 
Justices  disagreed  so  violently  that  Lord  Lpftus  offered  to  lay 
a  wager  that  the  Earl  of  Cork  was  wrong  ;  but  when  the 
witnesses  were  summoned  they  proved  Lord  Cork  to  be  right, 
on  which  '  the  Chancellor  presently  rose  and  went  out  of  the 
court,'  evidently  in  a  huff.  Then  the  Lord  Chancellor  sent 
official  letters  to  England  without  consulting  Lord  Cork,  and 
both  gentlemen  appear  to  have  spent  their  time  in  looking  for 
slights,  and  finding  them,  to  the  inconvenience  as  well  as  the 
scandal  of  the  public.  The  experiment  in  government  was 
evidently  watched  with  some  anxiety  by  the  English  friends  of 
the  Lords  Justices  :  Sir  Dudley  Carleton,  who  was  now  Lord 
Dorchester,  wrote  in  August  1630  to  compliment  Lord  Cork 
rather  meaningly  on  having  sunk  his  private  differences  with 
the  Chancellor,  so  that  both  '  might  concur  in  carrying  on  the 
public  service,'  and  added  enough  of  wise  saws  and  moral 
maxims  to  show  plainly  how  important  it  was  felt  to  be  that 
the  armistice  between  the  Irish  rulers  should  not  be  broken. 

It  would  seem  that  in  some  ways  Lord  Cork  really  did 
endeavour  to  let  his  private  quarrels  rest  while  he  acted  in  a 
public  capacity,  for  he  even  knighted  his  favourite  enemy 
Vincent  Cooking  '  freely,  for  ought  known  to  me  since  I 
came  into  the  government,'  which  so  softened  Sir  Vincent 
that  he  offered  very  handsomely  to  end  their  long  quarrel 
over  the  lands  which  were  in  dispute  between  them,  either 


i8o    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

by  buying  up  Lord  Cork's  title  to  the  estates,  or  by  selling 
them  to  him  for  the  same  price  which  he  himself  had  paid  to 
the  Beechers. 

But  the  Anglo-Irish  gentry  were  a  quarrelsome  genera- 
tion ;  no  sooner  had  Lord  Cork  made  peace  with  Cooking 
and  proclaimed  a  truce  with  the  Lord  Chancellor,  than  he  had 
to  write  to  the  Committee  for  Ireland  *  touching  Lord  Mount- 
norris  his  speeches  in  Castle  chamber.'  Sir  Francis  Annesley, 
now  raised  to  be  Lord  Mountnorris,  had  all  his  life  resembled 
the  proverbial  Irishman,  who  'was  never  at  peace  unless  he 
was  fighting.'  He  had  very  chivalrously  fought  with  the 
authorities  on  behalf  of  Lord  Barry's  mother,  and  afterwards 
with  Lord  Deputy  Falkland  on  behalf  of  the  O'Byrnes  of 
Wicklow,  till  the  Deputy  had  to  turn  and  fly  ;  but  people 
whispered  that  Mountnorris  had  fought  less  from  love  of  the 
O'Byrnes,  or  of  justice,  than  from  desire  to  oppose  Lord 
Falkland.  But  now  he  not  only  opposed  the  Justices  over 
every  question  that  came  up,  but  also  persisted  in  doing  his 
accounts  in  a  casual  fashion  that  drove  all  the  other  officials 
frantic,  and  although  not  absolutely  proved  to  be  dishonest, 
he  took  no  pains  to  prevent  suspicions  gathering  round  him. 
Charges  of  defrauding  the  revenue  and  exacting  undue  per- 
centages were  repeated  against  him  again  and  again,  and  Cork 
appealed  in  vain  to  Sir  William  Beecher,  the  clerk  of  the 
English  Council,  for  help  to  bring  the  scandal  to  an  end.  At 
last  Mountnorris  even  went  so  far  to  vow  that  the  Justices 
might  command  him  to  pay  what  money  they  would,  but  he 
would  pay  none  but  when  and  to  whom  he  pleased,  and  grave 
Lord  Cork  had  to  warn  him  that  '  that  was  no  fitting  answer.' 

Cork,  who  was  himself  an  experienced  financier,  desired  to 
bring  some  order  into  the  confusion  of  the  Irish  question,  and 
showed  Mountnorris  that  by  his  own  system  of  collecting  the 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE  181 

King's  rent  and  arrears,  every  person  might  be  paid  their  dues, 
and  the  King  not  left  a  penny  in  debt.  But  Mountnorris  had 
no  intention  of  going  to  school  to  '  the  all  knowing  Earl  of 
Cork,'  and  Lord  Dorchester  warned  Cork  that  at  court  there 
was  a  friendly  ear  ready  to  hear  any  explanation  Mountnorris 
chose  to  send  to  England.  Very  possibly  this  ear  was  that  of 
the  future  Deputy  Wentworth,  who  was  Mountnorris's  con- 
nection by  marriage  ;  but  Cork  also  had  his  faithful  allies. 
Dorchester  was  constant  in  his  reports  of  the  varying  gales  at 
court,  and  in  his  turn  made  use  of  Cork,  admitting  that  the 
greater  part  of  his  knowledge  of  Ireland  came  from  the  Lord 
Justice's  letters. 

These  letters,  preserved  for  us  among  the  State  papers  for 
Ireland,  are  indeed  most  interesting  documents.  The  Earl  of 
Cork's  ideal  of  government  was  possibly  not  very  exalted,  but 
it  was  entirely  practical.  His  arrangements  were  as  neat  and 
businesslike  as  those  of  any  merchant  or  lawyer's  clerk,  the 
means  were  fitted  to  the  ends,  and  if  he  did  not  rise  to  the 
statesmanlike  views  of  Strafford,  his  standard  being  that  of  an 
average  man  was  more  satisfactory  to  average  men.  He 
objected  to  the  disorderly  extremes  of  Presbyterianism  and 
Romanism,  he  wished  parishioners  to  go  quietly  to  the 
Established  Church,  beggars  to  be  set  to  work,  old  people 
sent  to  almshouses,  children  sent  to  school,  and  all  the  world 
conform  to  the  middle-class  respectability  of  his  beloved 
*  Protestant  Bandon.'  His  account  of  the  state  of  Ireland 
awakens  an  irrepressible  wish  that  the  government  of  the 
Lords  Justices  might  have  had  a  fair  trial.  Whether  their 
system  was  the  best  possible  or  not,  nothing  could  be  so 
fatal  to  prosperity  as  the  curious  destiny  which  has  every 
few  years  doomed  its  rulers  to  experiment  with  a  new  scheme 
of  treatment  for  the  'distressful  country.' 


1 82     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

Writing  to  Dorchester  in  1630,  Cork  says,  'I  have 
known  Ireland  for  forty-two  years,  and  never  known  it  so 
quiet.'  The  most  rebellious  spirits  among  the  Irish,  he 
explains,  had  grown  old,  and  the  gentry  having  got  titles  for 
their  lands  direct  from  the  Crown,  were  no  longer  at  the 
bidding  of '  the  great  and  degenerate  lords,'  that  is,  the  nobles 
of  Norman  or  English  descent  who  had  adopted  the  religion 
and  habits  of  the  native  Irish.  The  power  of  these  gentlemen 
for  mischief  was  now  greatly  diminished,  and  the  ordinary 
people  were  '  each  striving  to  excel  other  in  fair  buildings  and 
good  furniture  and  in  husbandry,  enclosing  and  improving 
their  lands.'  The  only  real  danger  to  be  feared  was,  as  in 
Carew's  time,  '  the  population  of  hardy  young  men,  strong 
and  with  no  occupation.'  They  were  a  constant  source  of 
unrest,  and  Cork  wished  to  turn  the  minds  of  the  meaner 
ones  to  trade,  and  to  encourage  those  who  were  well-born  to 
seek  foreign  employment.  It  is  curious  that  he  should  not 
have  feared  that  these  exiles  would  learn  under  foreign 
generals  to  be  more  efficient  enemies  to  the  peace  of  the 
country ;  but  he  held  that  a  prosperous  and  contented  island 
could  afford  to  ignore  any  temptation  to  discontent  from  the 
Continent.  Dorchester  had  lately  warned  the  Justices  that 
the  exiled  heir  of  Tyrone  was  being  well  received  at  Madrid, 
and  that  he  heard  news  of  arms  being  imported  into  Ireland. 
But  Cork  answered  that  there  was  nothing  to  fear  from  a 
Spanish  invasion  ;  the  Spaniards  who  landed  in  Munster  in 
Elizabeth's  time,  so  far  from  stirring  up  insurrection,  only 
appeared  at  the  end  of  it,  and  did  more  injury  to  their  allies 
than  to  the  English.  No  doubt  if  Spain  sent  an  army  into 
Ireland,  some  natives  would  join  it,  but  rather  for  the  sake  of 
plunder  than  to  make  Ireland  the  property  of  a  foreign  power  ; 
therefore  he  passed  on  to  explain  that  the  peace  just  concluded 


THE   LORD  JUSTICE  183 

with  Spain  would  have  no  influence  on  Irish  affairs,  and  must 
not  be  held  a  reason  for  diminishing  the  Irish  army.  After 
a  '  few  more  years  of  peace  the  King  may  be  able  to  command 
a  levy  of  English  and  Irish  of  reformed  manners  and  religion ' ; 
but  at  the  present  time  a  standing  army  was  a  necessity,  for 
'  all  men  know,  and  none  better  than  the  Irish,  how  difficult 
it  is  to  get '  the  ordinary  Englishman  '  settled  in  farms  and 
other  employments,  with  wife,  children  and  property,  to  come 
out  and  fight.'  The  unwarlike  farmers  were  no  efficient 
militia,  but  would  rather  desert  everything,  and  leave  the 
field  open  to  the  '  combustions  between  the  stirps  of  old  English 
and  the  Irish,'  in  which  the  King  would  at  last  be  compelled 
to  become  a  '  stickler '  or  umpire  by  means  of  the  English 
army. 

The  standing  army  in  Ireland,  on  which  Lord  Cork  set 
such  value,  was  in  a  deplorable  state  when  he  took  up  the 
government.  It  had  from  motives  of  economy  been  partially 
disbanded  in  Falkland's  time,  when  Sir  Richard  Aldworth 
wrote  in  despair  to  the  Deputy,  '  I  would  rather  walk  horses 
than  do  as  I  do.  I  cannot  do  everything  with  nothing.' 
The  half-starved  soldiers  either  mutinied  or  supported  them- 
selves by  plundering  the  peasantry,  who  were  not  disposed  to 
submit  tamely  to  such  exactions.  The  officers  followed  the 
example  of  most  of  the  government  officials,  and  got  their  pay 
as  best  they  could ;  each  man  filled  his  pocket  when  he  had  the 
chance,  and  the  scramble  and  scandal  increased  yearly. 

Cork's  endeavours  to  put  things  straight  were  desperately 
hampered  by  Mountnorris's  irregularity  of  payments.  '  I  do 
not  accuse  the  Vice-treasurer  of  corruption,'  he  wrote  in 
August  1631,  'but  I  think  he  is  an  unprofitable  servant.' 
Yet  in  spite  of  all  Cork  managed  to  scrape  enough  money 
together  to  be  able  to  write  proudly  to  Dorchester  that  the 


1 84     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

liabilities  of  the  year  were  all  met  and  the  King  no  more  in 
debt  than  when  the  Justices  took  up  their  office. 

Useful  though  he  was,  Dorchester  was  only  one  of  Cork's 
many  allies  in  England.  Another  even  more  important  friend 
was  a  connection  of  old  Lady  Fenton's,  Lord  Treasurer 
Portland,  who  held  that  blood  was  thicker  than  water,  and  in 
storm  and  sunshine  stood  by  Cork  manfully.  He  wrote  over 
to  the  Earl  in  1632  in  great  agitation  concerning  the  import 
of  Irish  wheat.  It  seems  strange  to  us  to  hear  of  Ireland 
exporting  corn  to  England,  but  the  supply  was  so  important 
that  the  King  and  Council  were  seriously  displeased  that  none 
had  arrived  in  England,  while  they  heard  it  was  being  exported 
to  France,  '  which  shows  extreme  negligence  in  such  as  should 
take  care  for  the  prevention  of  it.'  The  King,  said  Portland, 
had  seemed  favourable  to  the  idea  of  appointing  Lord  Cork 
to  be  Lord  Treasurer  of  Ireland,  but  now  could  really  attend 
to  nothing  but  the  dearth  of  corn,  and  two  ships  were  being 
sent  over  to  Ireland  which  positively  must  be  filled  with 
wheat. 

The  King  had  indeed  some  reason  to  be  anxious,  for  the 
scarcity  of  food  was  so  great  in  England  that  there  were  riots 
about  the  royal  residence  of  Theobalds.  But  the  demands 
of  the  English  government  must  have  been  very  unwelcome 
to  Lord  Cork,  who  grudged  any  export  of  food  from  the 
country  he  was  nursing  into  prosperity.  He  had  written  in 
November  1631,  '  We  must  safeguard  against  licences  to 
export  corn,  otherwise  we  shall  be  back  in  our  old  penury '  : l 
but  as  soon  as  Ireland  ceased  to  be  absolutely  famine-stricken, 
England  insisted  on  taking  toll  of  her  prosperity.  Needs 
must  when  a  king  demands.  It  is  clear  that  Lord  Cork 
satisfied  his  Majesty  and  the  grain  was  sent,  for  that  same 

1  CaL  S.  P.  Ire.,  1631. 


THE   LORD  JUSTICE  185 

November  arrived  the  much-desired  tidings  that  the  Earl  of 
Cork  was  appointed  Lord  Treasurer  of  Ireland.  The  office 
was  an  appropriate  one,  for  Cork's  worst  enemies  could  not 
deny  that  he  was  an  excellent  man  of  business  ;  but  the  Lord 
Chancellor  was  evidently  not  particularly  well  pleased  at  this 
honour  done  to  his  rival,  and  when  Cork  took  the  oaths,  the 
Chancellor  neither  appeared  in  the  council-chamber  nor  did  he 
afterwards  '  make  any  public  speech  unto  me,  yet  I  feasted 
him,  the  Lords,  and  the  Council  freely.' 

The  Earl  does  not  mention  where  this  feast  was  spread. 
The  previous  year  when  news  came  of  the  birth  of  an  heir  to 
the  throne,  the  feast  was  held  in  the  great  hall  of  Dublin 
Castle,  ladies  were  present,  and  four  knights  were  made,  and, 
most  remarkable  of  all,  Lord  Mountnorris  was  very  civil  to 
the  assembled  company.  Perhaps  the  Primate's  sermon  at 
Christ  Church  with  which  the  day  began  had  a  sweetening 
effect  on  his  temper. 

Dublin  Castle  was  available  for  celebrations  of  the  birth  of 
the  future  Merry  Monarch,  but  it  was  useless  for  any  purpose 
of  defence,  and  was  indeed  partly  in  ruins.  One  tower  had 
fallen  completely  down  in  Lord  Falkland's  time  and  frightened 
his  family  out  of  their  wits  ;  and  in  March  1631  Lord  Cork 
recorded  that  he  had  rebuilt  that  part,  <  which  cost  out  of  my 
purse  £144,  38.  9d.  The  God  of  Heaven  bless  me  and  enable 
me  by  His  grace  to  do  many  more  such  like  and  other  good 
work.'  He  says  in  another  place  that  he  '  had  re-edified  it  with 
battlements  and  platformed  it  with  lead,  and  six-inch  plank 
upon  the  lead,  so  as  cannon  was  mounted  thereon';  for  which 
he  paid  out  of  his  purse  ^1200,  which,  'if  it  had  been  done 
at  the  King's  charge,  £2000  would  not  effect  it.' l 

Cork  was  ready  enough    to    restore,    but   he   could  not 

1  Cork's  Council  Book  of  Letters,  quoted  Smith,  ii.  62. 


1 86     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF  CORK 

rebuild  the  castle  completely.  It  was  really  crumbling  to 
ruins,  and  the  lack  of  funds  to  place  it  in  readiness  for  the 
arrival  of  a  Lord  Deputy  was  a  constant  source  of  lamenta- 
tion from  the  Justices. 

In  spite  of  petty  anxieties  and  irregularities  of  routine, 
most  people  seem  to  have  been  agreed  in  1630  that  his 
Majesty's  three  kingdoms  were  prosperous  and  contented. 
Cork  had  boasted  to  Dorchester  of  the  Irish  prosperity, 
and  Dorchester  replying  while  on  a  royal  progress  in  August, 
writes,  '  The  news  of  the  world  follows  us  in  every  corner,  and 
those  I  received  at  our  last  place  of  remove  are  of  that 
moment  I  think  them  worthy  of  your  knowledge.'  He  then, 
after  giving  an  abstract  of  Continental  affairs,  '  as  well  out  of 
my  private  respect  to  yourself  as  out  of  the  opinion  that  the 
governours  of  that  kingdom  under  his  Majesty  should  not  be 
strangers  to  the  rest  of  the  world,'  proceeded  to  contrast  the 
prosperity  of  England  with  the  condition  of  the  rest  of  Europe, 
and  tell  how  admirably  his  Majesty  ordered  all  things,  and  how 
Scotland  had  voted  all  necessary  supplies  c  without  capitula- 
tions.' This  was  doubtless  a  hint  to  the  rulers  of  Ireland,  for 
in  the  late  Deputy's  time  the  Dublin  Parliament  had  shown 
very  plainly  that  they  were  not  inclined  to  give  money  without 
receiving  some  return. 

The  *  capitulations  '  or  conditions  which  the  Irish 
Romanists  had  then  wished  to  make  with  the  Crown 
appear  to  our  modern  eyes  very  moderate  and  reasonable  ; 
they  offered  to  contribute  three  yearly  subsidies  of  £40,000 
each,  on  the  understanding  that  certain  obvious  grievances 
should  be  rectified,  the  exactions  of  the  army  and  of  the 
Established  Church  restrained,  and  the  action  of  the  courts 
of  law  and  of  wards  regulated.  We  might  almost  be  listening 
to  the  demands  of  the  English  Long  Parliament ;  but  the 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE  187 

Irish  had  one  danger  that  England  did  not  dread,  and 
petitioned  that  no  land  title  should  be  disturbed  unless  it 
was  of  less  than  sixty  years'  existence.1 

The  King  had  received  these  proposals  graciously,  and 
directed  Lord  Falkland  to  summon  a  Parliament  to  enrol  the 
'  graces '  his  Majesty  consented  to  grant  to  his  Romanist 
subjects.  This  Parliament  was  to  assemble  in  November 
1628,  but  whether  by  carelessness  or  by  intentional  artifice, 
the  writs  were  issued  in  some  informal  manner,  which  gave 
the  judges  ground  for  pronouncing  them  void,  and  the 
Parliament  never  met  after  all.  But  it  was  obvious  that  when 
a  new  Parliament  was  called,  it  would  expect  these  graces, 
or  at  least  that  part  of  them  that  related  to  titles,  to  be 
ratified,  for  at  present  the  ownership  of  land  in  many  parts  of 
the  country  depended  on  the  caprice  of  the  Government,  and 
naturally  such  landowners  were  not  very  generous  in  voting 
supplies. 

Cork,  who  had  some  experience  of  the  difficulties  of 
manipulating  votes  and  packing  Parliaments,  was  delighted 
to  find  that  he  could  manage  the  finances  of  the  country  for 
three  years  without  needing  to  call  one,  but  he  told  Dorchester 
that  a  Parliament  would  be  required  in  three  years'  time  to 
provide  fresh  subsidies.  The  Romanist  lords,  he  believed, 
did  not  at  present  wish  for  a  Parliament,  they  would  be  quite 
satisfied  if  the  exactions  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts  were 
restrained,  with  which  desire  he  agreed. 

Probably  this  was  a  hint  to  England  that  the  whole  of 
the  graces  were  not  universally  desired  and  need  not  be 
granted  ;  for  although  Cork  as  a  business  man  was  clearly  in 
favour  of  the  stability  of  land-titles  and  the  regulation  of 
ecclesiastical  demands,  on  one  matter  both  justices  were  firm  ; 

1  Leland,  Hist.  Ireland,  ii.  485. 


1 88     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 

they  devoutly  hoped  that  the  portion  of  the  graces  which  re- 
lated to  complete  religious  toleration  would  never  be  enrolled. 
They  were  encouraged  in  this  attitude  by  the  Archbishop 
and  ten  of  the  bishops,  who  protested  formally  that  in- 
dulgences granted  to  idolatry  would  bring  down  a  judgment 
upon  the  land.1 

Considering  Cork's  conviction  that  all  Romanists  were 
idolaters,  it  is  a  little  surprising  to  find  him  supporting 
the  protest  of  the  Irish  lords  against  the  exactions  of 
the  Established  Church.  But  he  held  the  view  of  the 
moderate  Elizabethan  that  so  long  as  the  Romanist  laity 
paid  reasonable  recusancy  fines  they  might  be  left  for  time 
to  work  in  them  a  '  reformation  in  religion  and  manners.' 
'  Contemners  of  authority '  he  was  ready  enough  to  punish, 
the  King's  subjects  must  obey  the  King's  laws,  and  priests 
and  friars,  who,  he  was  assured,  were  all  emissaries  from  Spain, 
were  to  be  prosecuted  as  traitors.  As  a  practical  financier, 
it  was  rather  convenient  to  him  that  the  Romanists  should 
be  willing  to  pay  for  leave  to  stay  away  from  church,  for  the 
recusancy  fines,  he  calculated,  were  sufficient  to  pay  the  cost 
of  keeping  up  the  army  ;  but  when  he  found  the  money  pro- 
duced by  the  fines  was  more  than  he  had  expected,  he  saw 
that  some  extortion  must  have  been  practised,  and  took  the 
side  of  the  Recusants.  In  spite  of  the  fines,  the  Romanists 
had  for  some  time  past  enjoyed  a  considerable  amount  of 
liberty.  Orders  from  the  Crown  had  bidden  the  Irish  govern- 
ment wink  at  their  proceedings,  and  the  priests  had  therefore 
begun  to  celebrate  Mass  with  public  pomp,  and  to  rebuild  their 
churches  and  monasteries,  assuming  that  as  their  flocks  already 
paid  two-thirds  of  the  yearly  subsidies,  and  the  King's  neces- 
sities would  not  grow  less,  he  would  be  obliged  to  continue  to 

1  M  ant's  Hist.  Irish  Church. 


THE   LORD  JUSTICE  189 

conciliate  them  in  order  to  gain  their  money.  Indulgence  was 
taken  by  either  party  in  Ireland  to  be  a  sign  of  weakness. 

This  independent  attitude  assumed  by  the  Romanists  was 
more  than  the  Justices  could  long  stand.  Cork  wrote  on  the 
22nd  of  December  1629,  'The  Master  of  Abercorn,  Sir 
George,  Sir  Claude,  and  Sir  William  Hamilton  drew  the 
priests  and  Jesuits  to  Strabane,  and  had  a  meeting  there  of 
some  of  them  with  some  Papists  whom  the  laws  had  ejected 
from  Scotland.  We  shall  shortly  stop  these  overbold 
attempts.' l 

Modern  controversial  historians  are  fond  of  pointing  to 
the  Justices'  action  as  a  model  of  stupid  tyranny ;  but  we  must 
remember  the  laws  were  not  invented  by  Boyle  and  Loftus, 
they  were  mere  instruments  for  enforcing  a  system  which 
existed  and  was  approved  in  England  as  in  Ireland,  and  which 
was  only  modified  when  the  Stuart  monarchs  hoped  to  gain 
something  from  their  Romanist  subjects. 

The  Justices  therefore  began  their  term  of  government  by 
strictly  enforcing  the  prosecution  of  Papists  for  non-attendance 
at  church.  The  English  Council  was  rather  alarmed  by  their 
excessive  zeal,  and  wrote  suggesting  that  it  might  be  dangerous 
to  irritate  his  Majesty's  Romanist  subjects  too  far  ;  but  when 
a  Dublin  mob  raised  a  riot  on  the  imprisonment  of  a  favourite 
friar  and  rescued  him  from  the  authorities,  the  Council  saw  it 
must  give  way,  and  let  the  Justices  work  their  will.  They 
set  to  at  once,  and  directed  the  Archbishop  and  the  Mayor 
of  Dublin  to  '  ransack  the  house  of  a  certain  friar.'  The 
following  month  (January  1630),  they  proceeded  to  search 
certain  houses  of  Jesuits  in  Bridge  Street  and  Back  Lane.  In 
all,  they  had  their  will  of  fifteen  institutions,  and  reported  with 
satisfaction  how  great  had  been  their  success  '  in  suppressing 
1  Cat.  S.  P.  Ire.j  1619,  p.  499. 


190    LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

idolatrous  houses.'  The  house  taken  from  the  Jesuits  in 
Back  Lane  was  handed  to  the  authorities  of  Trinity  College, 
who  established  a  lecture  there.  The  exertions  of  the  Earl  of 
Cork  in  the  cause  of  Protestantism  were  not  merely  negative ; 
he  himself  maintained  a  lecturer  in  Kildare  Hall,  and  his 
friend  Archbishop  Ussher  supported  the  intentions  of  the 
Justices  by  holding  public  catechisings,  which  were  attended  by 
all  the  Dublin  gentry,  and  had  much  effect  on  the  Romanists 
of  the  upper  classes. 

Even  this  success  did  not  satisfy  the  energy  of  the  Justices. 
In  the  spring  of  1631  they  directed  the  Mayor  to  turn  his 
attention  to  a  nunnery  on  Hoggen  Green.1  The  sixteen  nuns 
of  this  convent  were  ladies  of  good  family,  and  were  treated 
with  more  consideration  by  the  Council  than  Lord  Cork 
approved.  Five  of  them  were  brought  before  the  council 
'  in  their  habit,'  and  permitted  to  return  to  their  convent  for 
a  month  on  giving  security  that  they  would  '  never  reassemble 
conventually  in  the  kingdom.'  And  though  they  came  to  the 
castle  on  foot,  they  were  sent  back  in  a  coach,  '  whereby,'  says 
the  Lord  Justice,  '  too  much  grace  and  countenance  was  given 
to  such  delinquents  and  contemners  of  authority.' 

But  all  Romanists  were  not  so  compliant  as  the  poor  ladies 
of  Hoggen  Green.  The  Grand  Jury  assembled  at  Kilmainham 
resolutely  refused  to  present  any  recusants  for  fines,  whereon 
the  foreman  was  fined  £50,  and  all  the  rest  a  like  sum,  except 
Mr.  Ussher,  who  from  his  name  was  no  doubt  connected  with 
the  Protestant  Archbishop.  The  jurors  were  all  sent  to  prison 
till  their  fines  should  be  paid,  and  this  short  method  was  so 
effective  that  at  the  next  session  they  found  all  the  present- 
ments desired. 

1  The  Hill  or  Hogue  where  of  old  the  Danish  conquerors  of  Dublin  had  held  their 
Parliament,  now  known  as  College  Green. — Stokes,  Ireland  and  Celt.  Church,  p.  279. 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE  191 

But  before  long  the  English  Council  became  again  alarmed 
at  the  pace  at  which  the  Justices  were  going.  The  affair  was 
not  so  simple  as  they,  in  their  Protestant  zeal,  imagined. 
There  were  wheels  within  wheels.  Lord  Dorchester  intimated 
in  a  letter  of  March  1630,  that  as  the  action  taken  against  the 
regular  Roman  Catholic  clergy  touched  Lord  Annandale  and 
the  Hamiltons,  it  must  be  handled  cautiously,1  and  Mount- 
norris  produced  at  the  council  table  a  copy  of  a  royal  letter 
to  the  same  purport.  Naturally,  if  the  Romanists  were  too 
severely  dealt  with,  they  were  not  likely  to  make  voluntary 
contributions  for  the  expenses  of  government,  and  just  now 
they  were  even  necessary  in  Charles's  eyes  as  a  counterpoise  to 
the  leanings  of  the  settlers  in  the  north  of  Ireland,  who  were 
many  of  them  Scotsmen,  and  preferred  the  form  of  the 
Presbyterian  Church  to  that  legally  established.  Some  of  the 
Anglican  bishops  were  inclined  to  look  with  leniency  on  these 
schismatics,  so  by  his  Majesty's  express  command  the  Justices 
sent  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Kilfenora  with  several  Presbyterian 
gentlemen  to  join  the  Romanist  recusants  in  prison.2  The 
Bishop  seems  to  have  been  soon  convinced  of  the  error  of  his 
ways,  for  Laud  wrote  to  Strafford  in  1637,  'I  have  received 
very  pitiful  letters  from  the  Bishop  of  Kilfenora  ;  pray  your 
lordship  afford  him  all  the  assistance  you  can.' 3 

Having  set  religious  matters  to  right  in  Dublin,  the 
Justices  went  further  afield.  Lord  Cork  wrote 4  of  the  friars 
that  '  these  locusts  were  also  assembled  in  the  city  of  Cork, 
being  very  numerous ;  and  they  had  set  up  their  several  orders 
and  convents,  wearing  their  particular  habits.'  He  therefore 
begged  that  the  English  Council  would  direct  the  Lord 
President  of  Munster  to  imitate  in  Cork  the  example  set 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  155.  2  Ware's  ^Bishops  of  Ireland. 

3  Strafford  Letters,  \.  125.  *  MSS.  Council  Book,  Smith,  ii.  62. 


192     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

him    by   the   Justices   in   Dublin,  of   which    he    enclosed    a 
report. 

The  Justices  also  turned  their  eyes  on  a  far-famed  place  of 
pilgrimage  on  Lough  Deargh,  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory.  This 
extraordinary  sanctuary  is  said  by  local  legend  to  have  been 
founded  by  St.  Patrick,  who,  in  a  vision,  was  promised  by 
Christ  Himself  that  whoever  in  penitence  and  faith  should 
abide  there  for  a  night  and  a  day,  should  behold  the  pains 
of  hell  and  purgatory  and  the  joys  of  heaven.  The  cave 
was  only  seventeen  feet  long  by  about  two  wide,  and  not  high 
enough  for  a  tall  man  to  enter  without  stooping.  Into  this 
den  the  unhappy  penitents  were  packed,  nine  at  a  time,  there 
to  spend  twenty-four  hours  without  food  or  sleep,  for  it  was 
currently  reported  that  the  devil  had  carried  off  two  cavefuls 
of  pilgrims  caught  napping.1 

Folklorists  might  have  been  interested  in  tracing  the  con- 
nection between  this  entrance  to  the  unseen  world  and  the 
underground  road  by  which  legends  tell  that  many  Irish  heroes 
entered  fairyland.  But  the  Lords  Justices  were  no  folklorists, 
and  called  the  island  in  Lough  Deargh,  with  its  seven  chapels 
and  holy  cave,  '  a  monster  of  fame.'  They  gave  orders  in 
September  1632  that  it  was  to  be  'pulled  down  and  utterly 
demolished,  with  St.  Patrick's  bed,  and  all  the  vaults,  cells,  and 
other  buildings,  and  all  superstitious  stones  to  be  cast  into  the 
lake,  and  no  boat  was  to  be  taken  there  nor  pilgrimage  used 
and  frequented.' 

The  destruction  of  such  a  far-famed  sanctuary  could  not 
be  carried  out  without  protest.  Even  the  young  Queen 
Henrietta  Maria  was  induced  to  use  her  influence  to  preserve 
it,  and  wrote  some  years  later  to  urge  Strafford  to  permit  the 
pilgrimage  to  be  resumed.  His  answer  was  all  devotion  and 

1  Mant's  Irish  Church,  i.  pp.  7,  85. 


THE   LORD  JUSTICE  193 

submission,  but  we  may  suspect  that  he  was  not  in  his  heart 
very  sorry  that  the  Justices'  work  had  been  so  thorough  that 
to  undo  it  might  bring  '  prejudice  and  scandal  to  his  Majesty's 
government,'  and  he  therefore  entreated  the  queen  to  graciously 
'  let  this  devotion  rest '  till  a  more  fitting  opportunity  for 
restoring  it  might  occur.1 

But  St.  Patrick's  Purgatory  had  existed  for  centuries 
before  the  Justices  or  StrafFord  came  to  bear  rule  in  Ireland, 
and  it  has  lasted  longer  than  they.  Their  power  and  ambition 
have  vanished  with  the  snows  of  yesteryear,  yet  still  pilgrims 
throng  the  shores  of  Lough  Deargh  and  watch  in  the  island 
sanctuary  for  visions  of  another  world. 

The  Justices  did  not  confine  their  attention  to  reforming 
the  religion  of  the  people  under  their  charge,  they  also  paid 
some  attention  to  their  morals.  Lord  Cork  related  to  Lord 
Dorchester  how  '  I  have  set  up  two  houses  of  correction  in 
dissolved  friaries,  in  which  the  beggarly  youth  are  taught 
trade,  and  I  have  imprest  one  hundred  pounds  to  buy  wool, 
flax,  hemp,  and  other  materials  for  the  purpose.  Idleness,'  he 
goes  on,  *  is  a  very  national  disgrace  of  this  island,  yet  the 
clever  and  industrious  few  bear  the  charges  of  the  idle,  so  that 
we  are  not  commonly  infested  with  vagabonds  and  sturdy 
beggars.'  It  would  seem  that  the  Socialism  of  the  Celtic  clan 
system  had  certain  advantages,  but  all  the  idle  were  not 
content  to  live  peaceably  at  the  charges  of  the  charitable,  for 
Lord  Cork  goes  on  to  tell  how  County  Meath  and  County 
Dublin  had  lately  been  infested  by  an  armed  band  of  thirty 
or  forty  ruffians,  who  when  not  satisfied  with  what  they  could 
beg,  took  more  by  force.  Lord  Cork  hanged  eleven  of  them, 
the  rest  of  the  band  dispersed  ;  and  so  he  solved  the  tramp 
difficulty.2 

1  Stafford  Letters,  ii.  221.  J  Cat.  S.  P.  Ireland,  May  1631. 

N 


194     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

Lord  Cork  had  some  reason  to  consider  himself  an  authority 
on  Charity  Organisation.  As  we  have  already  seen,  he  had  set 
up  almshouses  and  founded  apprenticing  funds  on  his  own 
estates,  and  when  he  became  Lord  Justice  he  did  his  best  to 
extend  the  same  system  over  the  rest  of  the  country,  and 
suggested  to  Sir  William  Beecher  that  as  army  pensions  fell  in 
the  money  set  free  should  be  bestowed  upon  maimed  soldiers, 
and  upon  the  King's  almsmen,  licensed  beggars  who,  like 
Scott's  Edie  Ochiltree  in  the  Antiquary,  might  ask  alms  with- 
out fear  of  the  constable. 

But  although  loans  and  almshouses  might  provide  for 
beggars  and  cripples,  and  sturdy  vagrants  might  be  hanged  or 
set  to  beat  hemp,  the  restless,  able-bodied  Irishmen  were  still  a 
perplexity  to  their  rulers.  Dorchester  agreed  with  Cork  that 
the  sloth  of  the  natives  and  their  idle  ways  of  living  seemed 
to  be  a  great  cause  of  their  disorder  ;  and  the  government 
decided  once  again  to  try  the  favourite  panacea  of  a  plantation, 
bringing  over  English  farmers  to  set  a  good  example  to  the 
lazy  Irish,  and  removing  the  most  troublesome  natives  to  an 
out-of-the-way  corner  of  the  kingdom. 


CHAPTER    XII 

THE   GREAT   LORD   DEPUTY 
1630—1633 

*  Turn,  fortune,  turn  thy  wheel  through  storm  and  cloud, 
Turn,  fortune,  turn  thy  wheel  and  lower  the  proud.' 

TENNYSON, 

THERE  is  something  pathetic  in  the  fervency  with  which  each 
succeeding  government  has  clung  to  the  belief  that  Englishmen 
carried  into  Ireland  would  retain  all  their  English  virtues, 
while  Irishmen  driven  from  their  homes  would  leave  all  their 
Celtic  failings  behind  them.  Some  Celtic  witchery  they 
certainly  left  behind  them,  as  the  newcomers  usually  became 
more  Irish  than  the  Irish,  but  the  dispossessed  Celts  remained 
unchanged,  'only  a  little  more  so/  as  they  would  put  it 
themselves. 

The  scheme  propounded  in  1630  was  to  move  the  most 
unruly  families  of  the  east  of  Ireland  into  the  depopulated 
parts  of  Kerry,  with  the  hope  that  they  would  there  expend 
their  energies  on  reclaiming  the  wilderness,  instead  of  waging 
war  on  each  other  or  on  the  English  settlers  who  should  be 
imported  to  occupy  their  former  homes.  But  depopulated 
though  the  west  of  Ireland  might  be,  its  soil  belonged  to 
some  one,  and  unless  a  rebellion  occurred  to  provide  more 
forfeitures,  the  only  expedient  for  the  Crown  was  to  devise 
some  means  of  invalidating  the  titles  by  which  the  present 
owners  held  their  lands. 

105 


196     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

When  the  south  of  Ireland  was  being  surveyed  for 
Elizabeth's  Munster  settlement,  the  Earl  of  Ormond  had 
seized  the  opportunity  to  extend  his  estates,  and  being  too 
powerful  to  meddle  with,  no  one  had  ventured  to  question  by 
what  title  he  or  his  successors  held  their  new  possessions. 
But  in  1630  'Erin's  high  Ormond'  was  a  young  man,  who 
had  but  newly  succeeded  to  his  grandfather's  estates  after 
a  boyhood  of  poverty  and  obscurity,  and  as  he  was  still 
an  unknown  quantity,  no  great  difficulty  was  anticipated  in 
dealing  with  him. 

Lord  Treasurer  Weston  therefore  applied  to  the  Earl  of 
Cork  in  October  1630,  to  aid  in  finding  the  King's  title,  so  as 
to  allow  of  a  plantation  being  made  in  Ormond,  a  wild  tract 
of  country,  sparsely  peopled  by  restless  natives,  among  whom 
some  few  English  were  already  established  on  feudal  tenures. 
Cork  inquired  of  various  persons  how  the  case  stood,  but  no 
one  could  or  would  say  anything  decided  on  the  matter.  The 
Master  of  Wards  said  that  in  strictness  of  law  the  tenants  really 
held  by  tenures  in  capite  and  greatly  feared  their  services 
being  enforced,  and  he  agreed  with  Lord  Cork  that  a  planta- 
tion would  be  less  ruinous  to  them  than  being  called  on  to 
render  their  dues  to  both  the  King  and  to  the  Earl  of  Ormond  ; 
but  the  grants  and  charters  were  in  the  hands  of  the  Earl  of 
Ormond,  and  could  be  forced  from  him  in  no  legal  way.  If, 
Lord  Cork  explained,  they  could  be  got  from  him  by  fair 
means,  there  would  be  no  further  difficulty  in  entitling  his 
Majesty  to  make  a  plantation,  but,  he  added  emphatically,  they 
must  be  careful  not  to  '  clash  upon  that  great  and  princely 
grace  granted  by  his  Majesty,  that  no  title  of  above  sixty 
years  should  be  inquired  into.' 

Ormond  heard  of  this  inquiry  and  spoke  to  the  Lords 
Justices  in  a  very  dignified  and  spirited  manner,  reminding 


THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY      197 

them  that  he  was  not  only  an  Irish  chieftain,  but  also  an 
English  peer  who  could  carry  his  complaints  to  England  ;  that 
he  and  his  ancestors  had  ever  been  loyal,  deserving  the  rewards 
due  to  loyalty  ;  that  he  held  his  lands  as  well  by  ancient  grants 
from  the  Conqueror  as  by  late  grants  from  the  Crown  ;  and 
finally,  that  he  refused  to  say  anything  on  the  subject  of  his 
title  till  he  was  assured  they  had  sufficient  powers  and  instruc- 
tions, when  he  should  put  the  matter  into  the  hands  of  his 
lawyers.  Cork  disliked  the  whole  business,  and  suggested  to 
his  English  friends  that  the  matter  had  best  be  let  slide  till  an 
'  honourable  and  knowing  Deputy  '  was  appointed  ;  but  that  in 
any  case  it  would  be  very  advantageous  if  his  Majesty  would 
cause  a  gracious  letter  to  be  written  to  the  Earl  of  Ormond, 
full  of  remarks  about  bounty,  clemency,  and  gratitude.  One 
wonders  if  he  really  expected  the  fiery  young  noble  to  be  caught 
by  mere  words  !  He  actually  seemed  to  hope  that  not  only 
might  Ormond  be  caught,  but  that  all  the  other  proprietors  of 
lands  after  which  the  King  hankered  would  follow  him,  and 
by  meekly  and  dutifully  surrendering  their  estates  would 
save  the  Justices  the  scandal  of  trenching  on  the  long-promised 
'  graces '  ;  for  the  Ormond  evidence  once  secured,  the  same 
evidence  would  apply  to  three  or  four  large  territories  lying 
contiguous  to  the  same,  which  would  enlarge  the  plantation.1 
On  further  inquiry,  it  appeared  that  Lord  Ormond's  grand- 
father had  already  been  sounded  on  the  possibility  of  a 
plantation  in  Ormond,  and  had  consented  to  it  on  condition 
that  his  own  rights  were  sufficiently  respected,  and  also  that  a 
plantation  would  be  a  real  advantage  to  the  present  lord,  as 
the  Crown  would  then  ensure  the  remainder  of  his  property 
against  the  increasing  attempts  of  the  natives  to  regain  their 
lost  territories.  A  certain  part  of  the  plantation  project  was 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  163-70. 


198     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

therefore  carried  out  at  once,  and  some  of  the  more  unruly 
inhabitants  of  Lord  Ormond's  estate  at  Leix  were  removed  to 
Kerry  ;  but  the  debated  lands  in  Ormond  were  untouched  till 
the  '  honourable  and  knowing  Deputy '  arrived,  and  then  in  one 
respect  he  did  answer  to  Cork's  expectations,  for  he  succeeded 
in  buying  Abbeyleix  from  the  Earl  of  Ormond  for  £1000, 
besides  acquiring  lands  in  the  same  neighbourhood  from  Lord 
Wilmot  to  the  value  of  ^500  a  year  ;  and  Cork  recorded, 
well  pleased,  in  his  diary  for  August  1637,  how  he  had  joined 
the  Lord  Deputy  at  Clonmel  to  act  as  commissioner  to 
entitle  his  Majesty  to  Ormond.  The  Deputy  himself  wrote 
triumphantly  to  England  that  the  original  settlers  were 
extremely  well  satisfied,  and  only  desired  to  be  given  the  same 
terms  that  the  natives  had  received  in  the  plantations  already 
made  in  Irish  estates.1  He  told  with  glee  that  he  had  secured 
the  land  for  the  King  at  ten  years'  purchase,  '  whereas,  in  good 
faith,  land  bought  for  myself,  some  of  it  stands  me  in  seventeen, 
most  of  it  in  fifteen  years'  purchase.  ...  I  am  very  confident 
the  plantation  in  a  few  years  will  raise  ,£  20,000  a  year  rent 
more  by  bringing  in  people,  trade,  and  commerce  ;  increase 
the  customs  at  least  £4000  a  year,  and,  which  is  above  them 
both,  settle  this  kingdom  in  such  condition  as  that  the  Crown 
may  be  as  securely  and  universally  obeyed  here  as  in 
England.' 

For  all  his  statesmanship,  Lord  Deputy  Wentworth  saw 
no  further  in  the  matter  than  his  contemporaries.  There  was 
no  difference  in  the  theories  of  different  parties  on  Irish  settle- 
ments :  Charles  and  Wentworth,  Cork  and  Cromwell,  had  no 
real  divergence  of  policy,  save  that  Charles  always  had  a  hope 
he  might  gain  by  not  driving  matters  in  Ireland  to  their  logical 
extremity,  while  Cromwell,  when  he  gave  the  natives  their 

1  Stratford  Letters,  ii.  82,  84,  90. 


THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY      199 

choice  of  hell  or  Connaught,  had  at  least  the  courage  of  his 
opinions. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  when  Cork  prayed  for  an 
honourable  and  knowing  Deputy,  he  was  hinting  that  such  a 
person  might  be  found  in  Richard  Boyle.  Although  there  is 
no  absolute  proof  of  the  matter,  it  would  not  have  been  an 
unreasonable  suggestion  on  the  part  of  Cork  and  his  friends. 
It  was  admitted  that  his  experience  of  Irish  affairs  was  longer 
and  more  complete  than  that  of  any  other  living  man,  and  his 
own  vast  estates  were  frequently  pointed  out  as  models  of 
peace  and  prosperity  and  examples  of  what  properly  carried 
out  plantations  might  be. 

But  a  Deputy  was  now  selected  for  Ireland,  not  merely  to 
act  as  a  magnified  Justice  of  the  Peace,  but  to  institute  a  new 
order  of  government,  and  teach  great  and  small  in  Ireland 
what  Stuart  prerogative  meant. 

This  Deputy  was  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  afterwards  Earl 
of  Strafford.  He  was  appointed  in  1632,  but  did  not  land  in 
Ireland  till  July  1633,  so  the  difficult  task  of  the  Justices  was 
rendered  almost  impossible  by  their  having  to  act  on  their  own 
responsibility,  and  yet  report  to  the  Deputy,  who  soon  gave 
them  a  foretaste  of  the  treatment  they  were  to  expect  when 
he  arrived  among  them. 

The  time  which  Cork  had  dreaded  was  now  arrived.  The 
revenue  of  the  country  had  to  be  made  up,  and  the  Justices 
had  to  ask  for  a  renewal  of  the  subsidy  which  the  Romanists 
had  willingly  contributed  in  gratitude  for  the  King's  promise 
of  the  'graces.'  The  graces,  of  course,  were  no  nearer 
realisation  now  than  when  the  King  first  spoke  of  them  ;  but 
in  spite  of  the  assurances  of  Cork  and  Loftus,  his  Majesty 
persisted  in  believing  that  his  faithful  subjects  were  longing  to 
pour  their  wealth  into  his  empty  purse  ;  and  it  was  not  for 


200     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

some  time  that  it  dawned  upon  him  that  it  was  possible  that 
Irishmen  were  growing  reluctant  to  pay  for  indulgences  which 
were  only  dangled  before  them,  and  never  made  their  own. 
When  at  last  he  did  succeed  in  realising  it,  the  severity  of  the 
Justices  was  nothing  to  the  wrath  of  his  Majesty.  He  wrote 
that  if  the  Recusants  did  not  show  themselves  worthy  of  his 
favour,  not  only  should  the  ordinary  fines  to  which  they  were 
liable  be  enforced,  but  the  promised  graces  should  never  be 
granted  at  all.  And  then  in  characteristic  fashion  the  King 
shifted  the  responsibility  of  his  broken  promises  on  to  other 
shoulders,  and  added  that  all  this  was  done  by  the  council  of 
the  Justices.  The  Justices  were  terrified  ;  they  could  not 
venture  to  remonstrate  with  the  King,  neither  could  they  face 
the  uproar  that  would  be  caused  if  the  letter  were  made  public. 
Finally  they  resolved  to  let  the  dangerous  message  '  lie  on  the 
council  table '  till  the  Deputy  arrived,  when  he  might  either 
take  the  blame  on  himself,  or  devise  some  way  of  avoiding  it. 
This  was,  of  course,  exactly  spoiling  the  King's  plan,  which 
was  to  make  the  Justices,  and  not  the  Deputy,  the  repre- 
sentatives of  the  rigour  of  the  law,  and  when  Strafford 
discovered  their  scheme,  his  wrath  rose  like  a  hurricane,  and 
must  have  left  the  respectable  Lords  Justices  gasping.  He 
wrote  to  them  describing  his  Majesty's  letter  as  of  '  extreme 
importance.'  '  How  is  it  then,'  he  continued,  '  that  I  under- 
stand that  letter  hath  by  your  Lordships'  order  lain  ever 
since,  and  doth  still,  for  anything  I  know,  sealed  up  in  silence 
at  the  council  table,  not  once  published  nor  answered  ? ' 
'  Pardon  me,  my  Lords,  if  in  the  discharge  of  my  duty  I 
be  transported  beyond  my  natural  modesty  and  moderation 
and  the  respect  I  personally  bear  your  Lordships,  plainly  to 
Jet  you  know  I  shall  not  connive  at  such  presumption  in  you, 
thus  to  evacuate  my  master's  directions,  nor  contain  myself  in 


THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY      201 

silence,  seeing  them   before   my  face  so  slighted,  or  at  least 
laid  aside,  very  little  regarded.' l 

No  wonder  that  the  startled  Earl  of  Cork  turned  for 
counsel  and  consolation  to  headquarters,  and  sent  off  a  copy 
of  the  thunderbolt  to  Sir  William  Beecher,  the  Clerk  of  the 
English  Council,  enclosing  with  it  the  copy  of  his  answer. 
Meanwhile  Strafford  took  care  that  the  Justices  should  be  no 
gainers  by  the  suppression  of  the  letters.  He  sent  over  a 
private  messenger,  a  Romanist,  to  carry  a  friendly  warning  to 
his  co-religionists  in  Ireland  that  a  storm  was  brewing  against 
them,  '  being  a  thing  framed  and  prosecuted  by  the  Earl  of 
Cork.'  The  Deputy  would,  however,  do  his  best  to  defend 
them  from  this  tyrannical  Earl  of  Cork,  if  they  would  but 
pay  him  half  a  subsidy  at  once,  so  as  to  make  him  independent 
of  this  Lord  Justice's  scheme  of  financial  extortion.  This 
tyrannical  scheme,  it  may  be  remembered,  merely  consisted  in 
enforcing  the  long  established  recusancy  fines,  which  Cork 
believed  would  provide  enough  to  pay  for  the  army  without 
imposing  any  new  burdens  on  the  country.  But  to  Went- 
worth's  mind  the  whole  scheme  was  preposterous.  He 
asserted  that  the  '  casual  income '  of  shilling  fines  for  non- 
attendance  at  church  could  not  possibly  maintain  the  Irish 
army,  while  its  collection  merely  exasperated  the  Romanists. 
*  Nor  will  I  so  far  ground  myself,'  he  wrote  to  Cottington, 
'  with  an  implicit  faith  upon  the  all-foreseeing  providence  of 
the  Earl  of  Cork  as  to  receive  the  contrary  opinion  from  him 
in  verbo  magistri,  for  I  am  sure  if  such  a  rush  as  this  should 
set  that  kingdom  in  pieces  again,  I  am  the  man  that  am  like 
to  bear  the  heat  of  the  day,  not  he.'  .  .  .  He  assured 
Cottington  that  he  had  every  ground  to  hope  he  would  get 
the  half  subsidy  out  of  the  Romanists,  unless  the  Earl  of  Cork 

1  Strafford  Letters,  ii.  77. 


202     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF  CORK 

thwarted  his  plan,  *  and  underhand  labour  to  set  the  Protestant 
party  against  it,  which  I  hear  he  doth.'  The  Justices  were, 
he  continued,  further  adding  to  their  list  of  crimes  by  paying 
away  some  particularly  large  sums  of  money  which  he  was 
convinced  they  only  expended  out  of  personal  spite  to  himself, 
desiring  to  *  see  me  at  the  bottom  of  my  business  before  I 
begin,  leaving  me  never  a  cross  to  bless  myself  withal  what 
sudden  accident  soever  happen.  Surely  they  dare  do  anything 
that  thus  give  warrant  for  issuing  so  great  a  sum.  ...  If  you 
do  not  upon  this  boldness  of  theirs  take  them  soundly,  and 
that  presently,  over  the  fingers  and  justify  my  Lord  Mount- 
norris,  who  hath  very  honestly  stopped  payment,  never  look  to 
be  obeyed  in  anything.' l 

It  is  curious  to  discover  that  the  only  person  liked  and 
trusted  by  the  new  Deputy  was  Lord  Mountnorris.  To  this 
solitary  confidant  he  wrote  from  York  in  1632  entreating  him 
to  hurry  back  to  Ireland,  for  money  was  desperately  needed 
there,  and  '  the  customs,  you  know  how  loose  they  lie — our 
only  confidence  there  being  in  you '  ! 

That  confidence  was  destined  to  be  rudely  shaken  when 
Wentworth  got  to  Ireland,  and  began  to  overhaul  Mount- 
norris's  accounts.  But  it  really  is  extremely  difficult  to 
discover  what  was,  and  what  was  not,  considered  dishonest  in 
the  seventeenth  century.  We  know  that  Bacon's  acceptance 
of  bribes  was  looked  on  as  very  shocking  ;  but  all  public  men 
seem  to  have  received  presents,  and  most  public  offices  and 
dignities  were  bought  and  sold  at  a  regular  market  price. 

Wentworth  seems  to  have  had  no  real  grounds  for  his 
conviction  that  the  Justices  cherished  a  private  spite  against 
him.  Cork  certainly  disapproved  of  the  indulgence  he  was 
prepared  to  extend  to  the  Recusants  ;  but  so  far  from  wishing 

1  Strajford  Letters,  \.  74,  York,  Oct.  i,  1632. 


THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY      203 

him  to  begin  his  government  with  an  empty  treasury,  Cork 
himself  boasted  that  he  had  found  it  empty  when  he  came  to 
office,  but  had  left  £7000  in  readiness  for  the  new  Deputy, 
having  also  paid  off  all  persons  both  in  the  civil  and  military 
lists,  without  having  the  least  assistance  of  treasure  from 
England  and  without  leaving  the  King  a  penny  in  debt ;  that 
he  had  succeeded  in  reducing  the  expenditure  of  the  country 
from  ,£40,000  to  ,£20,000,  also  providing  for  the  pay  of  the 
army  for  three  years.1  He  also  proudly  wrote  that  during 
the  time  of  his  being  in  the  government  of  Ireland,  which  was 
four  years,  having  but  £"100  a  month  allowed  him,  he  spent, 
besides  his  allowance,  above  ^"6000  in  maintaining  hospitality 
and  the  dignity  of  the  state  ;  nor  during  that  time  was  there 
the  least  complaint  made  of  him  to  his  Majesty,  or  to  the  Lords 
of  the  Council  of  England,  adding  '  which  government  I  ruled 
with  an  upright  heart  and  clean  hands.'  So  far  from  his 
dignity  as  Lord  Justice  having  been  of  any  advantage  to  him, 
he  told  Dorchester  in  May  i63i:2 — 

'  My  office  here  is  both  ruinous  to  my  estates  and  utterly 
void  of  power  to  advance  the  King's  service.  If  I  have 
offered  my  resignation,  it  is  not  from  private  motives,  but 
because  I  feel  the  necessary  reformation  of  this  great  people 
might  with  great  hope  be  undertaken  if  the  supreme  authority 
were  so  placed  aright,  well  credited  and  directed  from  thence. 
This  place  is  not  a  comfortable  one,  unless  a  man  consoles 
himself  by  making  a  private  fortune,  as  has  been  the  custom 
of  my  predecessors.  I  renounce  such  intentions,  so  that  I 
have  not  that  satisfaction.  ...  I  took  up  the  government  here 
from  no  selfish  aim,  but  from  zeal  to  the  King's  service,  and 
love  for  the  country  which  embraced  me  when  I  was  young  and 
without  fortune,  and  has  given  me  so  competent  a  patrimony.' 

1  Smith,  ii.  62.  2  Cat,  S.  P.  Ireland. 


204     LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT  EARL   OF  CORK 

In  a  letter  of  October,  he  again  expressed  his  eagerness  to 
lay  down  his  office.  '  The  country  is  well  stored  with  corn 
and  cattle,  but  there  is  little  money  moving,  all  waiting  for  the 
new  Deputy,  and  nobody  is  more  anxious  for  him  to  come  than 
I  am.  I  long  to  get  home  to  enjoy  a  country  life  among  my 
neighbours  and  tenants.' l 

This  letter  was  addressed  to  a  Captain  Price,  who  was 
entreated  to  carry  over  to  England  an  Irish  harp  for  Lord 
Keeper  Coventry,  and  to  give  to  '  Lady  Coventry  a  runlet  of 
mild  Irish  usquebagh  sent  unto  her  ladyship  by  my  youngest 
daughter  Peggie,  who  was  so  much  bound  to  her  ladyship 
for  her  great  goodness  and  care  of  her  in  her  sickness  at 
Canberry,  whose  Jewel  she  weareth  for  her  ladyship's  favour, 
and  I  hope  the  child  will  live  to  do  her  ladyship  some  service. 
I  pray,  help  Mr.  Hunt  to  deliver  them,  and  let  me  add,  if  it 
please  his  lordship,  next  his  hart  in  the  morning,  to  drink  a 
little  of  this  Irish  usquebagh  as  it  is  prepared  and  qualified,  it 
will  help  to  digest  all  raw  humours,  expel  wind  and  keep  his 
inward  parts  warm  all  day  after,  without  any  offence  to  his 
stomack.' 

And  so,  in  spite  of  letters  from  the  Deputy  and  whispered 
grumbles  from  the  wealthier  Romanists,  the  Lord  Justice's 
day  of  greatness  glided  on  to  its  close,  with  scarce  a  cloud 
to  shadow  the  brightness,  and  his  diary  is  full  of  pompous 
ceremonies  and  stately  junketings,  and  Lady  Meredith,  the 
charming  daughter-in-law  of  Lord  Justice  Loftus,  ignored  the 
family  feud  and  chose  the  Earl  of  Cork  for  her  valentine,  and 
presented  him  with  a  pair  of  black  silk  stockings,  garters,  and 
roses,  and  a  dozen  handkerchiefs,  and  Dublin  society  made 
merry  in  the  fleeting  sunshine  as  midges  dance  before  a 
thunderstorm. 

1  Cat.  S.  P.  Ireland,  1631,  p.  674. 


THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY      205 

But  before  the  stormy  Deputy  arrived  in  Ireland,  the 
beginning  of  sorrow  had  fallen  upon  the  Earl  of  Cork. 
Twenty-nine  years  before,  when  his  days  of  prosperity  were 
dawning,  Katherine  Fenton  had  become  his  wife.  Now,  when 
the  evil  days  were  near,  she  was  taken  from  him,  and  he  was 
left  in  his  old  age  to  face  life  alone. 

No  warnings  nor  details  are  given  in  the  diary.  Suddenly, 
on  the  1 6th  of  February  1630,  comes  the  heartbroken  entry  : 
'  It  pleased  my  merciful  God  for  my  manifold  sins,  between 
three  and  four  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon,  to  translate  out 
of  this  mortal  world  to  His  glorious  kingdom  of  heaven,  the 
soul  of  my  dearest  dear  wife,  who  departed  this  world,  to  my 
unspeakable  grief,  at  the  Lord  Caulfield's  house  in  Dublin  ; 
for  which  heavy  visitation  God  make  me  and  all  mine  patiently 
thankful  as  becometh  religious  Christians,  seeing  it  was  none 
but  my  all-knowing  God  that  did  it.' 

So  ended  the  Earl  of  Cork's  married  life.  Unlike  most 
men  of  his  time,  he  remained  constant  to  the  remembrance  of 
his  wife ;  he  never  thought  of  filling  her  vacant  place,  and  to 
the  day  of  his  death  he  dedicated  the  sixteenth  of  February  to 
her  memory,  in  fasting  and  prayer. 

It  is  sad  to  think  that  his  bones  do  not  rest  by  those  of 
her  he  loved  so  faithfully  and  mourned  so  long  ;  the  Great 
Earl  lies  far  off  from  her  at  Youghal,  but  there  on  his  stately 
tomb  in  the  Bennett  chapel  the  coloured  effigy  of  Katherine 
Fenton  still  kneels  in  prayer.  On  her  grave  in  Dublin  he 
lavished  his  wealth  to  erect  what  he  imagined  was  a  fitting 
memorial.  On  the  iyth  of  February  he  writes  : — 

'  My  dear  wife  was  in  the  night  of  this  day  privately 
buried  in  the  chancel  of  St.  Patrick's  church  of  Dublin  by 
Mr.  Dean  Cullen,  in  the  same  tomb  wherein  her  worthy 
grandfather,  Dr.  Weston,  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland,  and 


2o6     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

her  father,  Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton,  Kt.,  his  Majesty's  principal 
secretary  of  this  state,  were  buried.' 

A  public  funeral  was  held  nearly  a  month  after  the  private 
ceremony  at  St.  Patrick's.  Ten  of  the  Earl's  gentlemen  were 
provided  with  suitable  mourning  at  a  cost  of  £60,  and  the 
blacks  and  charges  of  the  funeral  over  and  above  all  expenses 
in  the  house,  probably  of  the  funeral  feast,  did  amount,  the 
Earl  carefully  notes,  c  to  somewhat  above  one  thousand 
marks.' 

In  May  the  Pursuivant-at-arms  completed  a  design  for  a 
magnificent  tomb,  which  was  to  commemorate  Lady  Cork's 
parents  and  grandparents  as  well  as  herself.  The  stonecutter 
of  Chapel  Izod,  who  was  already  at  work  on  the  restoration 
of  Maynooth  Castle  for  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  was  intrusted 
with  this  important  piece  of  work,  and  it  was  estimated  that 
the  cost,  including  painting,  gilding,  and  iron  railings,  would 
be  £300.  Eventually,  between  the  cost  of  the  iron  supplied 
from  the  Earl's  own  forges,  fees  to  the  Dean  and  Chapter, 
and  'liberalities  among  the  workmen,'  the  expense  rose  to 
£400.  But  the  tomb  was  to  cost  him  dearer  than  a  few 
hundred  pounds.  By  a  strange  irony  of  fate  his  troubles 
began  at  his  wife's  grave,  and  it  was  that  stately  marble 
erection  that  gave  Strafford  his  much-desired  opportunity  to 
humiliate  the  Great  Earl. 

The  tomb  was  not  completed  till  January  1633  ;  then  the 
Earl  wrote  :  *  This  night  the  bones  of  my  wife's  grandfather, 
Dr.  Weston,  sometime  Lord  Justice  and  Lord  Chancellor  of 
Ireland,  of  her  father,  Sir  Geoffrey  Fenton,  Kt.,  principal 
secretary  of  state  in  Ireland,  and  the  coffin  wherein  my  lost 
wife's  dead  body  was  enclosed,  were  all  removed  out  of  the 
old  tomb  wherein  they  were  all  three  buried  in  St.  Patrick's 
church,  and  all  placed  in  the  new  vault  of  my  wife's  tomb  by 


THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY      207 

me  made  and  erected  at  the  upper  end  of  the  chancel  of  the 
said  St.  Patrick's  church,  expecting  a  joyful  resurrection.' 

And  then  arrived  the  great  Lord  Deputy. 

When  Cork  was  weary  of  the  chaos  of  Irish  affairs,  he 
may  have  sighed  for  the  King  to  send  over  * an  honourable 
and  knowing  Deputy.'  But  he  did  not  dream  what  a  King 
Stork  was,  in  answer  to  his  prayer,  to  descend  on  the  Irish 
bogs  !  The  indignation  with  which  the  old  man  tells  the 
story  of  his  future  enemy's  arrival  is  too  dramatic  to  be 
shortened.  The  entry  in  his  diary  begins,  with  every  word 
underlined  : — 

'July  1633.  A  most  cursed  man  to  all  Ireland  and  to  me  in 
•particular. 

'This  23rd  of  July  about  nine  of  the  clock  in  the  afternoon 
Thomas  Lord  Viscount  Wentworth,  Lord  Deputy  of  Ireland, 
arrived  near  Lowsie  Hill'  [now  St.  Andrew's  Street],  'attended 
with  the  Earl  of  Castlehaven,  the  Lord  Docwra,  and  others. 
I  coming  in  my  coach,  met  his  Lordship  walking  on  foot 
towards  the  city,  and  after  welcoming  him,  entreated  his 
Lordship  to  take  the  benefit  of  my  coach,  which  he  and  the 
rest  did,  and  so  we  came  along  together  to  the  Castle,  and 
into  the  withdrawing  chamber  where  his  Lordship  (I  having 
precedence)  brought  me  to  my  coach.' 

Wentworth  was  of  course  not  yet  formally  installed  as 
Deputy,  and  the  Justices  were  still  governors  of  Ireland,  so 
he  was  scrupulous  to  treat  them  with  all  the  observance  due 
to  representatives  of  the  King,  and  which  he  intended  to  claim 
as  his  when  he  assumed  the  government.  These  civilities 
pleased  the  Earl  of  Cork  to  the  very  soul. 

Wentworth  wrote  on  the  following  day  to  Coke  : — 

'  I  visited  both  the  Justices  at  their  own  homes,  which,  albeit 
not  formerly  by  other  Deputies,  yet  I  conceived  it  was  a 


208     LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 

duty  I  owed  them,  being  there  but  as  a  private  person,  as 
able  to  show  an  example  to  others,  what  would  always  become 
them  to  the  supreme  governour,  whom  it  shall  please  his 
Majesty  to  set  over  them.' l 

Wentworth's  plans  were  well  thought  out,  and  every  move 
he  made  had  been  studied  beforehand  ;  the  formal  Justices, 
with  their  love  of  power  and  love  of  etiquette,  were  mere 
haphazard  bunglers  when  they  tried  to  play  against  such  an 
adversary.  The  unsuspecting  Cork  was,  however,  immensely 
flattered  by  Wentworth's  civility,  and  wrote  in  his  diary  how 
'  my  Lord  Deputy  came  home  to  my  house  and  made  me  a 
kind  visit.' 

The  following  day  the  Deputy  signified  to  the  Justices 
that  he  proposed  to  receive  the  sword  of  state  from  them  in 
the  council  chamber  that  afternoon  at  two  of  the  clock.  And 
Lord  Cork  writes  :  '  Whereon  the  Lord  Chancellor  came  to 
my  house  presently  after  dinner  where  most  of  the  lords  and 
councillors  were  with  me,  and  from  thence  we  went  all  on 
foot  to  the  Castle,  the  sword  being  borne  before  us  by  Sir 
Robert  Loftus,  attended  with  the  sergeant-at-arms,  officers, 
and  pursuivants,  and  so  we  came  with  the  King's  sword  and 
mace  carried  till  we  came  into  the  gallery  of  the  Castle.  And 
the  Lord  Deputy  there  meeting  us,  he  went  between  us  both, 
the  Lord  Chancellor  on  his  right  and  I  on  his  left.  But  at 
the  door  and  stairs  he  gave  the  Lord  Chancellor  and  me  the 
precedence,  and  when  we  came  to  the  council  chamber  we 
both  took  our  usual  places  and  his  Lordship  stood  at  the 
upper  end  of  the  council  table  till  his  Majesty's  commission 
which  did  authorise  him  to  be  Lord  Deputy  was  read  by  the 
Master  of  the  Rolls.  Then  his  Lordship  delivered  us,  the 
Lords  Justices,  the  King's  letter,  requiring  us  the  Lords 

1  Sir  afford  Letters,  1.97. 


///•  <  mr/  "f  <io 


THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY      209 

Justices  to  deliver  up  the  sword  and  government  to  him, 
which  we  did.  I  for  my  part  most  willingly  and  gladly  did, 
the  rather  that  the  kingdom  was  yielded  up  in  perfect  peace 
and  plenty.' 

Cork,  unfortunately,  was  so  proud  of  the  condition  of  the 
country,  that  his  speech  of  welcome  to  the  new  Deputy  was 
entirely  filled  with  hopes  that  the  present  prosperity  might 
continue  under  the  new  ruler  ;  while  Loftus,  with  more  tact, 
contented  himself  with  praises  and  compliments  to  Sir  Thomas 
Wentworth.1 

Cork,  who  remembered  the  days  when  Ireland  was  ravaged 
by  war,  famine,  and  pestilence,  could  honestly  boast  that  the 
country  was  now  in  '  perfect  peace  and  plenty,'  but  this  serene 
self-satisfaction  maddened  the  Deputy,  who  neither  knew  nor 
cared  from  what  ruins  the  present  prosperity  was  built  up, 
and  could  be  content  with  nothing  that  did  not  fit  his  own 
pattern  of  perfection. 

The  apprenticeship  that  Cork  had  served  under  Carew 
and  Fen  ton,  the  lessons  of  statecraft  he  had  learned  from 
Cecil  and  Ralegh,  counted  for  nothing.  In  the  eyes  of  the 
new  Deputy  he  was  but  a  doting  old  Polonius,  and  not  an 
honest  dotard  either.  It  was  very  convenient  for  Wentworth 
that  Archbishop  Laud  had  already  a  complaint  against  Cork 
which  would  be  a  good  opening  for  the  course  of  humiliation 
that  the  Deputy  was  preparing  for  the  Great  Earl,  and  would 
also  give  opportunities  for  a  little  plain  speaking  to  several 
archbishops  and  deans. 

To  Laud's  mind  the  black  marble  tomb  which  Cork  had 
erected  in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral  was  nothing  less  than  a 
scandal.  Laud's  trusted  emissary  Bramhall  had  written  of  it 
in  horror  as  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Dublin,  telling  that  the 

1  Carte,  i.  112, 
O 


210    LIFE  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL  OF  CORK 

tomb  was  'erected  in  the  proper  place  of  the  altar  as  if  it 
were  contrived  to  give  it  worship  and  reverence  which  the 
chapter  and  whole  church  are  bound  by  special  statutes  to 
give  towards  the  east.' l 

This  commotion  at  first  merely  astonished  the  Earl  of 
Cork,  and  he  sent  over  letters  to  explain  that  his  tomb, 
although  it  certainly  stood  at  the  east  end  of  the  cathedral, 
so  far  from  standing  on  the  site  of  the  communion  table,  was 
placed  in  front  of  a  blocked-up  doorway.  But  protests  and 
explanations  were  of  no  avail ;  Laud  was  determined  that  the 
tomb  should  be  removed,  and  Wentworth  was  delighted  to  be 
the  instrument  of  such  a  humiliation  to  Cork.  Cork  strained 
every  nerve  to  save  the  erection  of  which  he  was  so  proud. 
Not  only  was  he  indignant  at  his  selection  of  a  site  being 
blamed ;  the  tomb  was  that  of  Katherine  Fenton  ;  under  it  he 
had  buried  the  love  and  joy  of  thirty  years,  and  the  spot  was 
as  sacred  to  his  eyes  as  it  could  be  to  those  of  Laud. 

Ussher,  the  Primate,  and  Bulkeley,the  Archbishop  of  Dublin, 
were  ever  ready  to  do  all  in  their  power  for  the  Earl,  and 
wrote  letters  and  certificates  to  go  with  a  model  of  the  tomb 
to  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  but  the  letters  Cork  induced 
the  Irish  archbishops  to  write  in  his  behalf  only  made  matters 
worse  in  London.  Laud  was  indignant  that  Churchmen  should 
be  found  to  plead  such  a  cause.  If  the  archbishops  did  not  see 
with  his  eyes,  so  much  the  worse  for  the  archbishops  ;  and  as 
for  the  Earl  of  Cork,  who  had  thus  endeavoured  to  raise 
dissension  in  the  Church,  he  should  hear  some  home  truths, 
which  ran  as  follows  : 2 — 

'March  21,  1634. 

*  MY  VERY  GOOD  LORD, — It  is  very  true  that  I  have  taken 
exceptions  to  the  monument  which  you  have  built  in  St. 

1  Dom.  S.  P.,  ccxliv.  48.  2  Strafford  Letters,  i.  222. 


THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY      211 

Patrick's  Church,  and  I  hope  your  Lordship  will  easily  con- 
ceive I  could  not  prophesy  of  any  such  thing  [i.e.  know  of  its 
existence  by  inspiration],  and  therefore  must  needs  have  the 
knowledge  from  thence,  and  I  assure  your  Lordship  I  had  and 
from  good  hands,  tho'  I  cannot  now  recall  from  whom.  My 
Lord,  the  report  that  the  tomb  was  built  in  the  place  where  the 
High  Altar  stood  and  the  communion  table  should  now  stand, 
did  not  come  lately  to  me  as  your  Lordship  supposes,  for  I 
assure  you  I  heard  of  it  and  complained  of  it  to  the  King,  and 
desired  remedy  before  ever  my  Lord  Deputy  that  now  is  was 
so  much  as  named  to  that  place.  And  therefore,  whereas  your 
Lordship  writes  that  you  built  it  three  years  since  and  never 
heard  any  mouth  opened  against  it,  it  seems  some  mouths  that 
durst  not  open  there  did  open  fully  here.  ...  I  had  then 
just  cause  to  doubt,  considering  the  forms  of  all  other 
cathedrals  which  I  had  seen,  that  the  east  window  was  darkened 
by  it,  but  that  it  is  not  so  I  am  fully  satisfied.  For  the  other 
exception,  that  it  stands  where  the  High  Altar  stood  and  the 
communion  table  ought  to  stand,  I  must  clearly  confess  to 
your  Lordship  I  am  not  satisfied  ;  nor  whether  it  will  not  take 
off  too  much  room  from  the  choir  when  the  screen  is  built  as 
you  intend  it.  Neither  can  your  Lordship  think  that  I  shall 
make  myself  a  judge  of  these  or  any  other  inconveniences, 
never  having  been  upon  the  place  to  see  it,  but  shall  leave  it 
wholly  to  such  view  and  consideration  as  shall  there  be  had 
of  it,  yet  wishing  with  all  my  heart  that  you  had  erected  that 
monument  upon  the  side  of  the  choir  or  any  other  convenient 
place  rather  than  where  you  have  now  set  it.  And  I  must 
needs  tell  your  Lordship  such  an  erection  as  that  would  have 
asked  very  good  deliberation  where  to  have  placed  it.  As  for 
the  Dean  and  Chapter's  consent,  if  they  had  themselves  under- 
stood the  Church  better,  your  Lordship  had  been  free  from 


212     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

these  fears.  I  have  received  together  with  your  Lordship's 
letter  two  others,  one  from  my  Lord  Primate  of  Armagh,  the 
other  from  the  Lord  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  but  neither  of  their 
reports  do  fully  satisfy  me,  as  will  appear  by  the  answer  I  have 
given  their  Lordships, — for  as  yet  never  did  I  see  cathedral 
church  where  the  High  Altar  stood  in  the  Lady  Mary's  chapel, 
and  not  at  the  upper  end  of  the  choir,  which  place  I  say  under 
favour  of  better  judgments  I  cannot  say  is  a  fit  place  for  any 
man's  monument.  And  whereas  your  Lordship  writes  at  the 
latter  end  of  your  letter  that  you  bestow  a  great  part  of  your 
estate  and  time  in  charitable  work,  I  am  heartily  glad  to  hear 
it  :  but  withal  your  Lordship  will  I  hope  give  me  leave  to  deal 
freely  with  you,  and  then  I  must  tell  your  Lordship,  if  you 
have  done  as  you  write  you  have  suffered  strangely  for  many 
years  together  by  the  tongues  of  men  who  have  often  and 
confidently  affirmed  that  you  have  not  been  a  very  good  friend 
to  the  Church  in  the  point  of  her  maintenance.  I  hope  these 
reports  are  not  true  :  but  if  they  be,  I  cannot  account  your 
works  charitable,  having  no  better  foundation  than  the  liveli- 
hood of  the  Church  taken  away  to  do  them.  I  am  sorry  I 
cannot  give  your  Lordship  any  other  answer  to  your  letter 
than  what  I  have  here  written,  and  therefore  leave  the  tomb  to 
be  viewed  and  ordered  by  my  Lord  Deputy  and  the  Archbishop 
there  as  they  shall  find  fittest  to  be  done,  and  I  leave  you  to 
the  grace  of  God  and  rest  your  Lordship's  poor  loving  friend 

<W.  CANT.' 

Well  did  Chief  Justice  Richardson  say,  when  he  had  a  like 
lecture,  '  I  have  been  well-nigh  choked  by  a  pair  of  lawn 
sleeves  ! '  Never  since  the  Great  Earl  left  his  mother's  nursery 
can  he  have  been  so  soundly  scolded  ! 

The  letter   is  a  good   example  of  the  unfortunate  tone 


THE  GREAT  LORD  DEPUTY      213 

adopted  by  Laud,  and  his  curious  inability  to  see  any  view 
but  his  own.  '  Neither  shall  your  Lordship  think  I  shall  make 
myself  a  judge,'  he  writes,  but  neither  shall  the  two  arch- 
bishops or  the  dean  and  chapter  be  judges  !  In  all  simplicity 
he  believed  that  he  was  doing  an  absolutely  impartial  thing 
in  leaving  the  business  in  the  hands  of  his  own  alter  ego,  the 
Lord  Deputy. 

Cork  had  known  the  world  for  sixty-seven  years,  and  he 
must  have  read  in  this  letter  the  doom  of  all  but  the  submissive 
servants  of  Laud  and  Wentworth. 

Yet  even  Laud  admitted  there  might  be  danger  in  offending 
Lord  Treasurer  Weston  by  desecrating  the  tomb  of  his  Irish 
relatives,  and  warned  Wentworth  that  he  '  takes  it  very  highly 
because  of  his  kinsman,  the  Lord  Chancellor  Weston.  I  would 
not,  both  in  regard  of  the  King's  service  and  your  own  good, 
that  this  should  occasion  a  breach  between  you.' * 

But  the  Lord  Treasurer  might  fume,  and  Laud  hesitate, 
and  Archbishop  Ussher  declare  that  the  tomb  '  so  far  from 
being  an  inconveniency  was  a  great  ornament,'  Wentworth  was 
resolved  it  should  come  down,  and  down  it  came. 

It  is  true  that  commissioners  were  appointed  to  view  the 
tomb  before  sentence  was  given,  but  the  matter  was  really 
settled  before  they  set  foot  in  the  cathedral.  Lord  Cork 
wrote  that  the  commission  examined  some  weak  aged  people 
as  to  where  the  altar  had  stood,  but  they  spake  by  hearsay  and 
to  very  little  purpose.  Wentworth,  however,  thought  there 
was  no  need  of  human  witnesses  when  the  tomb  itself  spoke  so 
much  to  the  purpose.  He  wrote  to  Laud  : 2 — 

'  I  have  issued  a  commission  according  to  my  warrant 
for  viewing  the  Earl  of  Cork's  tomb  ;  the  two  archbishops  and 
himself,  with  four  other  bishops  and  the  two  deans  and  chapters, 

1  Strafford  Letters,  i.  219.  2  Ibid.,  i.  298. 


2i4     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 

were  present  when  we  met  and  made  them  all  so  ashamed  that 
the  Earl  desires  he  may  have  leave  to  pull  it  down  without 
reporting  further  with  England  ;  so  I  am  content  if  the 
miracle  be  done,  though  Mahomet  do  it,  and  there  is  an  end 
of  the  tomb  before  it  come  to  be  intombed  indeed.' 

And  then  the  next  spring,  March  1635,  Wentworth  wrote 
triumphantly  : l— 

'  The  Earl  of  Cork's  tomb  is  now  quite  removed  :  how  he 
means  to  dispose  of  it  I  know  not,  but  up  it  is  put  in  boxes, 
as  if  it  were  marchpanes  and  banquetting  stuffs  going  down 
to  the  christening  of  my  young  master  in  the  country.  The 
wall  is  closed  again,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  dry  and  fit  to  be 

wrought  upon,  it  shall  be  decently  adorned  or  else !  It 

costs  me  at  least  one  fifty  pounds  for  my  share.' 

Cork  could  but  submit  with  the  best  grace  he  could  muster 
up.  Even  in  his  diary  he  only  records  that  it  cost  him  £6 8 
to  remove  the  tomb  to  the  side  of  the  cathedral,  and  so  the 
struggle  ended,  and  the  first  triumph  was  scored  to  the  Lord 
Deputy. 

1  Strafford  Letters,  i.  279. 


.  /  6 '/'  ///  /-/ 


CHAPTER    XIII 

THE   LORD  JUSTICE'S   SONS-IN-LAW 
1630-1633 

'  Doan't  thou  marry  for  munny,  but  goa  wheer  munny  is.' 

Northern  Farmer. 

IN  July  of  the  year  1630  a  boat,  manned  by  a  solitary  sailor, 
put  out  with  great  precaution  from  the  rocks  of  Howth  and 
slipped  with  all  possible  haste  across  to  Holy  head.  Yet  this 
sailor  was  no  fugitive  escaping  from  justice,  or  dare-devil  in 
search  of  adventure ;  he  was  an  official  messenger  from  the 
greatest  man  in  Ireland,  sent  to  warn  three  belted  earls  that 
they  were  in  danger  of  being  snapped  up  by  a  pirate.  It  was 
somewhat  humiliating  that  the  Lord  Justice  of  Ireland  could 
do  no  more  to  secure  his  friends'  safety  than  to  pay  a 
messenger  five  pounds  to  secretly  warn  them  of  their  danger  ! 

However,  the  warning  was  in  time  ;  the  party  avoided  the 
notice  of  the  pirate  by  putting  out  from  Beaumaris,  and  they 
all — Lord  Ranelagh,  Lord  Kildare,  and  Lord  Dungarvan, 
with  Arthur  Loftus  and  Arthur  Jones,  arrived  without  further 
adventures  in  Dublin  on  the  5th  of  August,  in  readiness  for  the 
weddings  of  Lord  Ranelagh's  son,  Arthur  Jones,  to  Katherine 
Boyle,  and  of  Lord  Kildare  to  her  sister  Joan. 

The  early  death  of  Lord  Kildare's  father  had  left  him 
premier  peer  of  Ireland  and  head  of  the  great  Fitzgerald 
family  while  still  a  mere  baby.  The  haughty  traditions  of  the 
Geraldines  were  not  likely  to  foster  submission  to  the  English 


215 


216     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

rule  in  a  boy  reared  under  their  influence,  so  in  1618  the  King 
commanded  that  young  Kildare  should  be  sent  over  to  England 
to  be  educated.  The  boy's  widowed  mother  answered  patheti- 
cally that  '  by  reason  of  the  child's  tenderness  and  indisposition 
of  body,'  and  his  being  little  more  than  six  years  old,  he  had 
more  need  of  a  nurse  than  of  any  learning  or  breeding.1  As 
the  Lord  Deputy  supported  Lady  Kildare's  petition,  it  is 
probable  that  her  boy  was  left  a  little  longer  with  her,  but 
eleven  years  later  we  find  him  established  as  an  undergraduate 
at  Oxford  and  the  comrade  of  young  Dungarvan. 

No  doubt  it  was  during  the  Boyles'  visit  to  Oxford  in 
1629  that  Lady  Joan  made  Lord  Kildare's  acquaintance,  and 
Lord  Cork  decided  to  become  guardian  of  the  young  man 
and  marry  him  to  his  daughter.  Kildare  wrote  to  his  kinsman 
Lord  Dorchester  to  thank  him  for  passing  his  wardship  to  the 
Earl  of  Cork,  as  he  knew  he  could  not  have  been  put  in  any 
man's  hand  that  would  do  him  more  good. 

Lord  Cork  was  not  blind  to  the  failings  of  '  the  mad  little 
lord,'  ~  as  Londoners  had  named  him,  for  he  wrote  that  '  little 
George  Kildare '  had  run  nine  hundred  pounds  in  debt  in  three 
months,  f  which  except  he  take  up  in  time,  his  estate  will  not 
bear,  say  I.'  He  probably  hoped  to  keep  the  wild  boy  in 
hand  as  he  did  Barrymore,  but  the  Geraldine  was  of  a  very 
different  stamp  from  the  head  of  the  Barrys  ;  they  were  only 
alike  in  courage  and  in  pride,  characteristics  which  they  shared 
with  most  of  the  gentlemen  of  Ireland. 

However,  when  all  was  said,  it  was  a  very  fine  match  for 
Lady  Joan.  Her  trousseau,  which  was  bought  in  London,  was 
worthy  of  the  occasion,  and  cost  ^230,  i6s.,  and  her  father 
gave  her  a  diamond  ring  for  which  he  had  paid  one  hundred 

1  Col.  S.  P.  Dom.,  1618. 

2  George,  i6th  Earl  of  Kildare,  was  usually  known  as  the  Fairy  Earl,  from  his 
small  size. 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S  SONS-IN-LAW       217 

marks.  On  the  i5th  of  July  1630  there  was  a  grand  wedding 
at  the  Earl  of  Cork's  house  in  Dublin,  Lord  Barrymore  and 
many  other  noble  lords  being  present,  and  Lord  Kildare's 
chaplain  united  the  bride  and  bridegroom.  They  were  both 
the  same  age,  nineteen. 

Lord  Cork  plunged  with  eagerness  into  the  task  of  bringing 
his  son-in-law's  'disjointed  estates'  into  some  sort  of  order,  and 
lost  no  time  before  riding  out  to  Maynooth  with  Lord  Kildare, 
his  friend  Lord  Angier,  and  Lord  Dungarvan,  to  make  arrange- 
ments for  the  re-edifying  of  the  '  ancient  terraced  house.' 
Then  followed  a  second  visit,  when  Lord  Digby  came  to  give 
his  views,  and  it  was  finally  resolved  that  the  three  sides  of  the 
dwelling,  forming  a  court,  should  be  rebuilt,  and  the  decayed 
church  should  be  re-edified  and  whitewashed,  and  fair  wains- 
cote  pews  set  in  it.  The  mouldering  sanctuary  where  the  wild 
Geraldine  Earls  had  bent  their  haughty  heads,  and  the  famous 
Geroit  Oge  had  glanced  proudly  over  the  ranks  of  English 
nobles  who  were  rather  his  prisoners  than  his  guests — that  old 
church  was  now  to  be  made  respectable  with  Jacobean  white- 
wash and  pews,  and,  doubtless,  a  three-decker  pulpit.  But, 
however  uncompromising  was  the  restoration,  it  was  a  true 
restoration,  for,  as  Lord  Cork  wrote,  '  the  church  had  been, 
God  forgive  the  doers  thereof,  misapplied  to  the  keeping  of 
cattle  and  making  of  malt  and  other  base  uses.  I,  before  I 
could  proceed  to  the  rebuilding  of  the  manor-house  of  May- 
nooth, thought  it  my  duty  to  rebuild  the  said  church,  which 
cost  me  about  £120,  and  on  All  Saints'  Day  1632  my 
chaplain,  Mr.  Floyd,  preached,  which,  for  ought  I  could  hear, 
was  the  first  sermon  made  by  a  Protestant  minister  in  any 
man's  memory  herein.' 

'  The  dining  and  withdrawing  chambers  of  the  house,'  and 
*  my  daughter's  closet  with  the  parlour,'  were  all  wainscoted, 


2i 8     LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 

and  Lord  Cork  gave  Tingham  the  builder  a  horse  and  two 
cows  to  encourage  him  to  proceed  '  Really '  with  the  building, 
the  *  Really '  in  the  diary  being  written  with  an  impressive 
capital  R  !  For  a  while  Lord  Cork  kept  the  purse-strings 
and  paid  the  workmen's  wages,  and  his  wise  scheme  worked 
admirably  ;  but  Lord  Kildare  had  a  persuasive  tongue,  and 
after  a  little  his  father-in-law  had  to  write  with  some  shame 
that  the  £350  intended  for  the  building  had  been  wheedled 
out  of  his  hands  by  Lord  Kildare's  earnest  requests.  Naturally 
the  builders  saw  nothing  of  the  money,  and,  after  they  had 
been  left  a  whole  month  without  wages,  were  preparing  to  stop 
work,  when  as  usual  Lord  Cork  came  to  the  rescue,  and 
agreed  to  pay  them  regularly  five  marks  for  every  working 
day,  c  but  whether  I  shall  get  it  by  my  assignment  out  of  the 
Earl  of  Kildare's  Michaelmas  rents,  God  knows.' 

Lord  Cork  having  once  begun  to  settle  the  accounts,  had 
naturally  to  go  on,  till  in  1635  he  arranged  for  the  final  com- 
pletion of  the  mansion  by  agreeing  with  the  stonecutter  to 
put  up  the  young  Earl's  arms,  painted  and  gilt,  over  the 
gate,  and  to  pay  four  and  sixpence  for  every  hundred  letters 
engraved. 

The  Earl  of  Cork  must  have  been  either  an  extremely 
indulgent  or  unusually  patient  man,  for  the  leniency  with 
which  he  looked  on  the  escapades  of  his  sons-in-law,  and  the 
frequency  with  which  he  paid  their  debts,  are  hardly  what  one 
would  expect  from  a  man  of  his  punctilious  manners  and  keen 
business  faculty.  The  Earl  of  Kildare's  performances  must 
have  been  as  delightful  to  his  boy  brothers-in-law  as  they  were 
trying  to  the  head  of  the  house  ;  indeed,  his  lordship  would 
still  have  been  more  in  place  as  an  undergraduate  at  Christ 
Church,  than  as  a  married  man  and  one  of  the  rulers  of 
Ireland. 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S   SONS-IN-LAW       219 

Lord  Cork  wrote  of  him  ruefully  enough  :  '  Jan.  13,  1632. 
My  Lord  Kildare,  for  discovering  who  it  was  who  had  battered 
and  abused  my  silver  trencher  plates,  was  by  me  promised  ^5, 
for  which,  when  he  had  my  promise,  he  said  it  was  himself 
with  knocking  marrow-bones  thereon ! '  A  French  book  of 
etiquette  of  that  time  warns  gentlemen  never  to  knock  their 
bones  on  the  table  at  dinner.  '  Better,'  says  the  sage  writer, 
'  to  go  without  the  marrow.'  However,  Lord  Kildare  had 
no  mind  to  go  without  anything  he  fancied,  and  Lord  Cork 
continues  sadly,  '  Whereupon  in  discharge  of  my  promise  I 
commanded  my  servant  to  fetch  him  £5  in  gold,  which  his 
lordship  without  making  any  bones  thereat  accepted,  and  I 
presently  pocketed  the  wrong.' 

But  in  a  year's  time,  even  Lord  Cork's  patience  was 
exhausted,  and  there  was  such  a  serious  difference  between 
him  and  his  son-in-law,  that  Lord  Deputy  Wentworth  himself 
had  to  act  as  mediator.  The  Earl  wrote  : — 

'  September  1633,  in  the  withdrawing  chamber  of  the  castle, 
the  Lord  Deputy  heard  the  dispute  between  the  Earl  of 
Kildare  and  me,  in  which  discourse  the  ill-guided  Earl  ex- 
pressed much  bitterness  and  intemperancy.  God  amend  him 
and  better  direct  him.' 

This  quarrel  was  pretty  clearly  over  the  young  Earl's 
extravagance,  and  it  proved  that  not  even  the  thunderous 
brow  of  the  Lord  Deputy  could  keep  Kildare  in  order,  for 
before  long  he  took  such  a  huff  at  good  advice  given  him  by 
Wentworth  that  he  bolted  off  to  England  to  complain  to  the 
King,  who  was  actually  so  hard-hearted  as  to  refuse  to  see  him. 
And  meantime,  says  poor  Lord  Cork,  '  his  lady,  four  children, 
and  a  family  of  about  sixty  servants  were  left  without  means 
or  monies,'  and  '  to  avoid  clamour  '  his  father-in-law  had  to 
send  £50  to  pay  the  servants  and  discharge  them,  and  took 


220    LIFE  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL  OF  CORK 

the  bdies  and  children  and  their  attendants  into  his  house  in 
Dublin. 

As  Kildare  could  get  no  sympathy  in  England  there  was 
nothing  for  it  but  to  come  meekly  home  again  to  his  wife  and 
babies,  and  to  pawn  his  plate  when  he  could  find  no  other  way 
of  raising  the  wind.  He  even  pawned  the  gilt  standing  cup 
that  had  been  his  father-in-law's  christening  present  to  his  son 
and  heir !  Lord  Cork  was  naturally  extremely  angry  at  the 
discovery  of  this  performance,  but  Lady  Kildare  persuaded 
him  to  redeem  the  cup  and  then  keep  it  safely  in  his  own 
hands.  Kildare's  next  differences  with  the  Deputy  were  not 
passed  over  so  lightly  as  the  flight  to  England  had  been.  He 
refused  to  surrender  certain  tide-deeds  of  his  manor  of  Ley 
to  Wentworth,  and  a  Pursuivant  was  despatched  to  Maynooth 
who  carried  off  his  lordship  to  prison  in  Dublin  Castle. 
This  was  but  too  ordinary  a  fate  during  the  stormy  days  of 
Wentworth's  government.  It  seems  wonderful  that  the 
Castle  was  large  enough  to  hold  all  the  nobility  and  gentry 
who  were  packed  off  to  it  with  all  the  unceremoniousness  of  a 
comic  opera.  But  it  was  grim  earnest  with  both  the  Deputy 
and  his  prisoners  ;  and  as  the  proud  young  Geraldine  was  not 
the  man  to  buy  his  liberty  by  submission,  he  was  kept  in  con- 
finement for  a  year,  two  months  of  the  time  a  close  prisoner  ; 
even  royal  letters  on  his  behalf  failed  to  move  the  Deputy 
to  mercy,1  and  Kildare  was  only  liberated  for  a  short  time  the 
following  spring. 

At  that  time  Lady  Kildare  had  gone  to  Fjigland,  possibly 
to  make  interest  for  her  hmhand  at  the  F.nglish  court,  and 
Lord  Cork,  who  was  away  in  Munster,  grew  anxious  as  to  how 
matters  were  going  at  Maynooth,  and  sent  Sir  John  Leeke  to 
report.  He  brought  back,  Lord  Cork  writes, '  assurance  that 

»  Roshwwdi,  Str&rd  Trial. 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S   SONS-IN-LAW       221 

the  Earl  was  again  committed  prisoner  to  the  Castle  of  Dublin, 
and  that  he  had  left  at  Maynooth  his  four  children  and  a 
devouring  family  of  forty  idlers,  without  any  provision  of  meat 
or  money  to  sustain  them,  and  his  children  were  without  clothes 
and  destitute  of  victuals,  whereupon  I  sent  an  express  messenger 
with  my  letters  to  Bodlagh  his  steward  to  move  the  Earl  to 
let  me  have  his  children  to  Lismore  with  the  nurses  and 
servants,  and  upon  notice  of  his  pleasure  I  would  send  my 
coach  to  bring  them  hither,  and  keep  them  here  till  their 
mother's  coming  out  of  England  or  my  going  over  thither.' 
The  description  of  the  ragged  little  lords  and  ladies  running 
wild  among  the  forty  slipshod  retainers,  and  jovial  Sir  John 
Leeke  shaking  his  kind  head  over  the  steward's  story,  reads 
like  a  page  out  of  one  of  Miss  Edgeworth's  Irish  novels.  It 
is  probable  that  the  children  found  a  home  at  Lismore,  for 
not  long  after,  the  eldest  boy  accompanied  the  Earl  of  Cork 
to  England. 

Then  for  a  little  space  there  are  no  further  reports  of 
Geraldine  escapades  in  Lord  Cork's  diary  ;  but  his  eldest  son- 
in-law,  Lord  Barrymore,  had  something  of  the  same  ways,  and 
also  aroused  Lord  Cork's  wrath  by  the  unceremonious  fashion 
in  which  he  left  his  wife  and  family  on  his  father-in-law's  hands 
and  sent  for  them  again  at  his  own  convenience.  Lord  Cork 
wrote,  January  1631  :  '  My  daughter,  the  Countess  of  Barry- 
more,  with  her  son  and  daughter  with  their  family,  departed 
from  my  house  in  Dublin  towards  their  own  house  at  Castle 
Lyons,  but  her  discrete  Lord  sent  Lieut.  Finch  to  call  her  and 
hers  home  without  so  much  as  a  letter  to  her  or  me  of  thanks 
for  the  year  and  a  half  diet  I  gave  him  and  his  family  in 
Dublin.  Neither  sent  he  money,  horses,  nor  men  to  bring 
her  home,  which  is  great  disrespect  of  her  and  me.  God 
forgive  him.' 


222     LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT  EARL   OF  CORK 

There  are  few  notices  to  be  met  with  of  Arthur  Loftus,  the 
husband  of  Lord  Cork's  daughter  Dorothy.  He  occasionally 
joined  his  father-in-law  in  buying  sheep  and  cattle,  or  execut- 
ing leases  and  settlements  ;  that  is  all.  Only  once  is  there  a 
glimpse  of  a  more  intimate  character,  when  in  1635  Lord  Cork 
writes  :  '  This  day,  my  son-in-law  Arthur  Loftus  had  a  very 
unpleasing  passage  with  me  in  my  gallery,  touching  a  slight 
unkindness  he  had  taken  against  his  wife,  and  expressed 
himself  heady  and  untractable  therein  to  my  great  discontent.' 
But  as  no  further  mention  is  made  of  Sir  Arthur's  temper,  we 
may  suppose  that  the  storm  soon  blew  over. 

In  1631,  Lord  Cork  mentions  that  he  'gave  Doll  an 
embroidered  cushion  and  a  cabinet  of  tortoiseshell  with  lock, 
key,  and  garnishment  of  silver  of  goldsmith's  work,'  and  the 
following  year  he  records  that  Doll  gave  him  three  night- 
caps. Her  eldest  daughter  was  born  at  Rathfarnham  in  1634, 
and  little  more  is  known  save  that  her  husband  died  young, 
and  she  married  a  second  time,  into  the  Talbot  family.  She 
died  in  1668,  when  her  sister  Mary  wrote  that  she  did  not 
feel  so  much  sorrow  as  she  could  have  wished,  as  she  really 
did  not  know  her. 

But  if  the  tantrums  of  Arthur  Loftus  and  the  madcap 
freaks  of  Kildare  and  Barrymore  were  not  the  cause  of  any 
real  trouble  or  shame  to  the  Earl  of  Cork,  the  husband  of  his 
third  daughter  was  a  very  different  person. 

George  Goring  is  described  by  Lady  Fanshawe  in  her 
memoirs  as  '  the  civilest  person  imaginable,  so  that  he  would 
blush  like  a  girl,'  and  '  very  tall,  very  handsome,  exceedingly 
facetious  and  pleasant  company.'  Vandyke's  portrait  corrobo- 
rates Lady  Fanshawe's  description.  It  was  only  Clarendon 
who  could  withstand  Goring's  fascinations. 

'  Goring,'    he    says,    '  had    wit,    courage,    understanding, 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S   SONS-IN-LAW       223 

and  ambition,  uncontrolled  by  any  fear  of  God  or  man. 
While  others  would  violate  their  promises  or  friendships  for 
some  benefit  or  convenience,  Goring  would  do  so  out  of 
humour  and  for  wit's  sake,  and  loved  no  man  so  well  but  he 
would  cozen  him  and  then  expose  him  to  public  mirth  for 
having  been  cozened,  and  in  dissimulation  he  so  excelled  that 
men  were  not  ordinarily  out  of  countenance  with  being 
deceived  by  him.' 

Of  course  we  cannot  be  sure  that  the  Earl  of  Cork  was  not 
as  completely  cozened  as  were  most  of  Goring's  friends,  for 
when  even  Strafford  could  write  of  Goring's  '  sweet,  frank, 
generous  disposition,'  the  Earl  of  Cork  might  be  pardoned  for 
being  for  a  while  blinded  to  his  faults.  Still,  as  this  fascinating 
gentleman  was  always  begging  or  borrowing  money,  it  seems 
strange  that  his  father-in-law  could  not  bribe  him  into  some 
outward  decency  of  behaviour  to  his  wife.  So  far  as  letters 
go,  Goring's  to  Lord  Cork  are  models  of  affectionate  respect, 
even  though  he  usually  manages  to  slip  in  some  disagreeable 
insinuation  against  some  member  of  the  family.  Sad  to  con- 
fess, Lettice  Goring's  letters  also  usually  contain  some  ill- 
natured  remark  or  other  about  her  brothers  and  sisters,  but 
the  childless,  neglected  wife,  in  bad  health  and  poor  circum- 
stances, might  be  pardoned  a  little  peevishness.  She  neither 
had  the  spirit  nor  the  intellect  that  supported  her  sister 
Katherine  through  the  troubles  of  her  married  life,  for  Lettice 
seems  to  have  had  few  interests  and  no  literary  tastes  ;  her 
handwriting  is  poor  and  her  spelling  abominable. 

She  paid  her  first  visit  to  Ireland  after  her  marriage  in 
1631,  when  she  remained  in  Dublin  with  Sara  Digby  and  Joan 
Kildare,  while  her  father  made  his  autumn  progress  through 
Munster  in  patriarchal  fashion,  accompanied  by  his  sons 
Dungarvan  and  Kinalmeaky,  his  five  sons-in-law,  Stephen 


224    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Crow,  the  husband  of  his  niece  Mary  Boyle,  and  their  friend 
Mr.  Jermyn.  'God  bless  me  in  this  my  going  home,'  wrote 
the  Earl  :  '  I  delivered  to  my  daughter  Digby  £40,  and  my 
acquittance  to  the  Vice-Treasurer  to  receive  ^100  more,  to 
bear  the  charges  of  my  house  till  my  return.' 

The  party  travelled  by  the  usual  route,  halting  at  Tallagh, 
where  the  judges  were  holding  assizes,  and  so  they  came  to 
Lismore,  where  they  spent  six  or  seven  weeks.  This  long 
dose  of  family  life  was  too  much  for  George  Goring ;  he 
endured  it  till  he  could  borrow  two  thousand  pounds  in  his 
father's  name,  and  a  thousand  in  his  own,  '  to  be  repaid  when 
he  is  able,'  and  then  he  vanished.  Poor  Lord  Cork  thought 
his  son-in-law  added  insult  to  injury,  for  not  only  did  he 
1  depart  without  once  taking  leave  of  me,  and  left  his  wife  and 
servants  here,'  but  he  also  *  posted  through  Scotland  into 
England  on  the  choice  grey  gelding  I  bestowed  on  him  called 
Grey  Brown,  whose  sudden  and  unknown  departure  hath  much 
disquieted  me,  his  wife  and  friends.' 

Strafford,  who  took  a  good  deal  of  interest  in  the  Gorings' 
affairs,  wrote  of  them  in  the  spring  of  1633  : — 

*  Young  Mr.  Goring  is  gone  to  travel,  having  run  himself 
out  of  eight  thousand  pounds,  which  he  purposeth  to  redeem 
by  his  frugality  abroad,  unless  my  Lord  of  Cork  can  be 
induced  to  put  to  his  helping  hand,  which  I  have  undertaken 
to  sollicit  for  him  the  best  I  can,  and  shall  do  it  with  all  the 
power  and  care  my  credit  and  wit  shall  anywise  suggest  unto 
me.  In  the  mean  time  his  lady  is  gone  to  the  Bath.  All  may 
do  well  enough  if  her  father  be  persuaded,  and  then  if  she  be 
not  as  well  done  to  as  any  of  her  kin,  Mr.  Goring  loseth  a 
friend  of  me  forever.'1 

In   September,    Goring   himself   came    over    to  join   his 

1  Strafford  to  Carlisle,  Strafford  Letters,  i.  785. 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S   SONS-IN-LAW       225 

petitions  to  those  of  the  Deputy,  and  the  old  Earl  was  obliged 
most  unwillingly  to  yield,  and  writes  on  the  6th  of  October 
that  he  had  consented,  '  at  the  importunate  entreaties  of  my 
daughter  and  the  unavoidable  persuasion  of  the  Lord  Deputy, 
conjoined  with  the  necessities  of  my  son-in-law,  to  buy  him 
one  of  the  Lord  Tilbury's  regiments,  a  troop  of  horse,  which 
the  Lord  Deputy  affirmed  would  be  worth  to  my  son  Goring 
^"2000  a  year.' 

The  war  in  the  Low  Countries  was  then  attracting  many 
young  English  gentlemen,  and  Goring  could  not  have  learned 
the  art  of  war  from  a  better  teacher  than  the  General  of  the 
English  contingent,  stout  old  Vere  of  Tilbury. 

Lord  Cork  insisted  that  certain  settlements  should  be 
made  on  Lettice  in  return  for  the  sums  advanced  to  buy  the 
troop  of  horse,  and  he  also  required  security  that  the  money 
should  '  not  be  consumed  in  George  Goring's  profuse  expenses,' 
which  shows  that  the  days  in  which  he  could  be  cozened  had 
passed  by.  StrafFord  was  delighted  at  the  success  of  his 
mediation,  and  wrote  : — 

'  Mr.  Goring's  business  is  settled  reasonably  well,  I  hope  : 
I  judge  him  to  be  of  frank  and  sweet  generous  disposition  : 
and  if,  by  the  assistance  of  my  Lord  his  father  and  other  his 
noble  friends,  he  be  provided  of  this  place,  which  suits 
certainly  extremely  well  with  his  genius,  I  am  persuaded  that 
his  mind  set  in  ease  and  quiet,  you  should  see  him  do  very 
well,  and  be  an  honour  and  comfort  to  himself  and  friends. 
I  beseech  your  Lordship  let  Lord  Goring  know  this  is  my 
opinion,  that  I  will  contribute  the  uttermost  of  my  power 
towards  the  setting  forth  and  consummating  of  so  good  a 
work.' l 

Lettice's  '  importunate  entreaties  '  also  induced  Lord  Cork 

1  StrafFord  to  Carlisle,  Strafford  Letters,  i.  119. 
P 


226     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

to  lend  Goring  £200  in  ready  money  to  pay  their  expenses 
back  to  London  ;  but  her  father,  growing  more  and  more 
cautious  in  his  dealings  with  his  slippery  son-in-law,  and 
'  doubting  his  readiness  to  repay  it  unto  me,  gave  it  to 
Mr.  Aldersie  to  lend  as  if  it  were  his.'  A  former  debt  of 
^200  the  Earl  had  already  written  off  as  '  desperate.' 

This  importunate  pair  sailed  from  the  Ring's  End  on  the 
loth  of  October,  Lord  Cork  having  done  all  in  his  power 
to  provide  for  his  luckless  daughter's  comfort.  He  sent 
her  cousin  Joan  Gwyn  to  accompany  her,  and  a  message  to 
another  cousin,  Tompkins,  *  to  receive  my  daughter  Goring 
if  she  should  be  constrained  to  come  and  lie  there,  and  use 
her  and  her  attendant  courteously,  and  I  would  gratify  her 
with  as  much  plate  as  should  pay  my  daughter's  expenses,  for 
money  from  her  or  me  I  know  she  would  not  take.' 

But  the  Earl's  anxiety  over  Lettice  was  never  at  rest.  In 
December,  when  Sir  John  Leeke  was  taking  over  the  direc- 
tions for  Dungarvan's  marriage  settlements  to  be  drawn  up 
by  Lord  Cork's  London  lawyer,  the  Earl  begged  him,  before 
he  attended  to  any  other  business,  to  '  go  to  my  Lord 
Bruerton's  to  see  my  daughter  Lettice.' 

Unhappy  as  Lettice  must  needs  have  been  when  with  her 
husband,  she  was  even  more  wretched  when  he  went  to  the 
Low  Countries,  and  left  her  in  his  father's  care  in  London. 
In  February  1634  Lord  Cork  wrote  a  very  diplomatic  and 
very  touching  letter  to  that  old  gentleman  : — 

*  MY  NOBLE  LORD  AND  BROTHER, — I  have  been  honoured 
with  the  receipt  of  your  letters,  and  in  them  the  assurance  that 
our  son  hath  obtained  a  regiment  in  the  Low  Countries,  and 
that  there  is  good  possibility  for  his  addition  of  the  horse 
troop  therewith.  As  your  lordship  hath  cause,  so  am  I  with 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S   SONS-IN-LAW       227 

that  his  employment  much  comforted,  hoping  it  will  be  a 
step  to  his  further  grace  and  advancement.  And  if  I  could 
be  satisfied  how  you  and  he  intend  to  dispose  of  my  daughter 
Lettice  that  she  might  find  rest  and  contentment,  it  would 
much  quiet  my  yet  distracted  thoughts,  for  her  welfare  and 
my  consideration  of  her  estate  is  a  main  part  of  my  greatest 
care.  And  as  at  her  being  here  by  effectual  persuasions,  so 
also  by  my  letters  sent  her  since  her  departure  into  England, 
I  have  ever  counselled  and  advised  her  to  observe  you  and 
your  counsels,  and  not  to  be  led  by  the  advice  of  any  other 
which  shall  anyways  contrary  or  oppose  your  directions,  nor 
to  presume  upon  her  own  weak  wit  and  judgment  to  contradict 
or  run  any  other  courses,  but  to  tread  that  path  which  you 
shall  chalk  out  unto  her,  for  therein  I  assure  her  she  shall  find 
happiness  and  in  no  other  way.  And  of  this  I  am  as  confident 
as  I  may  be  of  a  woman's  promises,  that  for  the  future  she 
will  observe,  wherein  I  beseech  your  lordship  to  encourage 
and  cherish  her,  and  give  her  boldness  to  have  freedom  with 
you,  and  then  I  cannot  doubt  but  all  things  will  succeed 
contentfully,  which  I  beseech  God  to  grant.' 

The  Earl  then  goes  on  to  speak  of  a  difference  in  money 
matters,  which  he  was  unwilling  should  still  keep  him  at  a 
distance  from  Lord  Goring,  being  *  induced  principally  by  my 
own  disposition,  which  hath  been  ever  unapt  to  entertain  or 
continue  disputes  with  any  stranger,  much  less  with  one  so 
near  and  dear  unto  me  as  your  Lordship  is,  for  so  poor  or 
contemptible  a  sum  of  money,'  and  therefore  proposed  to 
refer  the  matter  to  the  arbitration  of  Lord  Goring  himself, 
Dungarvan,  Sir  Thomas  Stafford,  and  Sir  John  Leeke,  *  and 
now  that  I  have  made  you  a  part  judge  in  your  own  cause  I 
cannot  believe  but  you  will  do  me  right  and  justice.  .  .  . 
And  so  rendering  to  your  Lordship  all  hearty  thanks  for  the 


228    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

great  graces  and  favours  you  have  vouchsafed  to  my  son 
Dungarvan  since  his  return  from  his  travels,  and  praying  your 
increase  and  continuance  of  them — not  only  to  him,  but  to  my 
daughter  Lettice,  who  is  so  near  and  dear  unto  me,  with 
tender  of  my  most  affectionate  respects  to  your  lordship  and 
all  yours,  I  kiss  your  hand  and  take  leave.' l 

All  Lord  Cork's  influence  seems  to  have  failed  to  make 
Lettice's  position  in  her  father-in-law's  house  endurable,  and 
it  was  arranged  that  she  should  follow  her  husband  to  the 
Low  Countries,  escorted  by  a  cousin,  Anne  Quin,  and  two 
footmen  ;  and  Lady  Kildare,  in  her  usual  kindly  fashion,  lent 
her  a  waiting-woman.  '  God  bless  and  preserve  them,'  writes 
the  old  Earl. 

Lettice  wrote  from  Gravesend,  in  her  usual  melancholy 
strain,  to  take  leave  of  her  father  : — 

'GRAVESEND,  Ap.  n,  1634. 

'  MY    MOST    HONOURED  LORD    AND    DEAREST   FATHER, 1 

have  forborn  to  present  your  Lordship  with  my  lines  till  now, 
that  I  might  at  once  fully  acquaint  you  with  all  proceedings, 
which  I  fear  will  not  at  all  answer  your  expectance,  I  am  sure 
not  your  desert,  from  them  that  are  most  obliged  to  you. 
My  Lady  Goring  is  still  herself,  and  her  usage  of  me  in  her 
house  answered  my  expectation,  for  it  was  as  bad  as  bitter 
words  could  make  it,  of  which  my  dearest  brother  is  witness. 
For  my  Lord  Goring  I  will  say  nothing  of  him,  because  I  can 
never  know  him  truly,  for  by  his  words  I  should  judge  him 
very  good,  but  his  actions  are  quite  contrary  ;  of  such  men  I 
will  not  venture  to  judge,  but  this  I  may  truly  say,  he  is  to  me 
the  crudest  man  living.  I  beseech  your  Lordship  for  God's 
sake  that  I  may  hear  often  from  your  Lordship,  which  will  be 
my  greatest  comfort,  for  whilst  I  have  a  being  I  will  never 

1  Add.  MSS.  19,832,  fo.  36. 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S   SONS-IN-LAW       229 

cease    to    be    your  Lordship's    most    obedient    daughter    and 
humble  servant  LETTICE  GORING. 

'  I  have  my  maid  over  with  me,  but  my  cruel  Lord  Goring 
would  not  suffer  her  to  come  into  his  house,  who  hath  done 
himself  great  wrong.' 

Dungarvan  had  been  directed  to  see  after  his  sister  when 
he  returned  to  London  from  courting  the  niece  of  the  Lord 
Deputy  of  Ireland,  but  he  arrived  too  late,  and  writes  to  his 
father  in  April  : — 

'  My  Lord  Goring  did  take  order  for  my  sister  and  send 
her  over  into  the  Low  Countries  before  I  returned  from  the 
North  :  and  since  my  being  here,  I  have  received  letters  from 
her,  of  her  safe  arrival  at  the  Hague,  where  she  hath  been 
very  graciously  received  of  the  Queen x  and  heartily  welcomed 
by  her  husband,  as  she  doth  express  to  me  in  her  letters. 
Before  I  left  the  town  I  furnished  her  with  fifty  pounds  which 
she  desired  of  me,  and  afterwards  had  a  long  conference  with 
my  Lord  Goring  for  to  settle  all  things  in  a  fair  corre- 
spondence between  them,  which  I  hope  hath  been  done  ;  and 
now  she  is  in  a  place  where  there  is  the  greatest  likelihood  of 
her  happiness.  Concerning  the  accounts,  which  is  part  your 
Lordship  hath  committed  to  my  trust,  for  to  clear  all  reckon- 
ings with  my  Lord  Goring,  nothing  hath  been  done  in  it,  Sir 
Thomas  Stafford  having  been  very  sick  and  like  to  die,  and 
my  Lord  Goring,  out  of  his  civility,  as  he  pretends,  refusing 
to  enter  into  any  dispute  with  me,  and  excepting  Sir  John 
Leeke  for  being  so  much  your  Lordship's  servant.  I  cannot 
imagine  a  better  course  to  end  all  speedily  than  to  refer  it 
wholly  to  my  Lord  Goring's  judgment,  since  your  Lordship 
is  willing  to  let  those  six  hundred  odd  pounds  fall  rather  than 

1  Charles  the  First's  sister,  the  exiled  Queen  of  Bohemia. 


230     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

be  longer  at  variance  with  my  Lord  Goring,  and  my  Lord 
Goring  cannot  in  honour  but  meet  your  Lordship  some  part 
of  the  way.  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  is  in  this  of  my  opinion.' l 

Lettice  found  many  friends  among  the  English  who  formed 
the  court  of  the  kindly  Queen  of  Hearts  at  the  Hague,  and 
her  father  did  his  best  to  procure  her  a  welcome  by  sending 
to  her  Majesty  a  brace  of  wolf-hounds  which  Lord  Barrymore 
had  destined  for  Lord  Cromwell  and  the  tailor-banker,  Mr. 
Perkins,  but  which  Lord  Cork  (  made  bold  '  to  secure  for  the 
Queen  of  Bohemia. 

In  the  spring  of  1636  Lettice  was  back  again  in  Dublin, 
and  her  father  as  usual  notes  that  he  had  given  her  £60  in 
gold,  which  made  ,£120  given  her  since  she  came  to  Ireland  ; 
and  in  all  the  Earl  of  Cork  admitted  he  was  '  out  of  purse 
to  them  £260.' 

George  Goring  met  her  in  London,  but  when  he  returned 
to  the  Hague  he  left  her  in  England,  and  she  appears  to  have 
made  her  home  at  Lord  Goring's  country-seat  at  Hurst- 
monceau,  where  she  at  least  had  the  pleasure  of  seeing  her 
two  younger  brothers,  who  spent  their  holidays  with  her 
from  Eton.  But  her  unhappiness  was  too  great  to  be  ignored, 
and  even  the  gentleman  who  attended  on  the  boys  wrote  to 
Lord  Cork  :  '  My  masters  did  comfort  her  as  much  as  they 
could,  but  her  languishing  heart  could  not  receive  much 
comfort,  so  that  it  made  them  cry  often  to  look  upon  her.' 

Meantime  Goring  was  really  showing  himself  at  his  best, 
and  after  behaving  very  gallantly  at  the  siege  of  Breda,  re- 
ceived a  shot  in  the  ankle  which  went  near  to  cripple  him  for 
life.  Garrard  described  him  in  a  letter  to  Strafford  as  limping 
about  London  on  crutches  at  Christmas  1637,  and  added,  'he 
carries  his  leg  in  a  scarf  and  will  have  little  use  of  it.' 

i  L.  P.,n.  3,  197-8. 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S   SONS-IN-LAW       231 

If  he  did  not  literally  carry  out  the  proverb  '  the  devil 
a  monk  would  be,'  Goring  certainly  mended  his  manners 
while  he  was  sick,  and  employed  all  the  charm  of  which  he 
was  master  to  pacify  his  wife  and  her  relations.  He  was 
about  this  time  appointed  Military  Governor  of  Portsmouth, 
a  post,  it  may  be  remembered,  that  he  afterwards  utilised  in 
cozening  both  the  King  and  the  Parliament.  But  at  the  time, 
the  appointment  only  seemed  to  promise  an  honourable  and 
comfortable  life  to  the  Goring  pair,  and  as  Lord  Cork  had 
lately  bought  a  house  in  Dorset,  he  was  delighted  to  know 
that  his  daughter's  new  home  would  be  comparatively  near  to 
him.  He  wrote  to  George  Goring  with  the  polite  diplomacy 
he  had  learned  to  use  when  dealing  with  any  of  the  Goring 
family : — 

'  NOBLE  COLONEL, — It  pleased  your  honourable  father  at 
my  being  in  London,  to  accompany  the  several  favours  he 
did  me  at  court  with  his  promise  that,  after  your  arrival, 
both  he  and  you  would  do  me  the  honour  to  see  me  here  at 
my  poor  house,  in  the  latter  end  of  Christmas,  which  letter 
he  hath  vouchsafed  to  confirm  unto  me  since  that  by  several 
letters,  and  to  bring  my  dear  Friend  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  in 
your  company.  And,  for  that  at  court  Christmas  doth  not 
end  till  Candlemas,  I  live  in  hope  that  his  court  promise  will 
be  made  good  unto  me  in  the  country.  And  to  this  house 
and  poor  family,  who  so  long  to  see  you,  no  three  persons 
can  be  so  welcome  unto  us  all,  especially  yourself,  who  have 
been  so  great  and  long  a  stranger  unto  me.  And  it  would 
complete  our  joy  if  my  daughter  Lett,  might  accompany  you 
in  this  expedition  ;  whom  I  presume  you  will  not  leave, 
neither  will  she  willingly  suffer  herself  to  be  left  behind  you 
(if  she  be  in  England)  when  you  begin  your  journey  hither. 


232     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

Amongst  the  many  blessings  that  it  hath  pleased  my  God  to 
bestow  upon  me  (for  which  I  beseech  the  giver  of  them  to 
make  me  so  humbly  thankful  as  I  ought  to  be)  I  do  rank 
amongst  the  highest  of  His  divine  favours  the  good  under- 
standing that  he  hath  planted  between  your  father  and  myself, 
but  now  for  the  happy  condition  that  it  hath  pleased  God  in 
His  due  time  to  reduce  yourself  and  your  wife  unto.  And  I 
am  confident  that  it  is  His  divine  purpose  that  hath  guided 
your  heart  to  affect  her  to  whom  you  are  bound  by  the  bonds 
of  sacred  marriage,  and  whom  I  have  ever  observed  to  love 
and  honour  you  extremely.  And  so  to  do  and  to  win  th' 
affection  of  your  parents  was  in  all  my  councils  and  hers,  and 
my  fatherly  charge  and  advice  unto  her.  And  my  daily 
prayers  upon  my  knees  to  God  to  reduce  you  to  that  happi- 
ness and  native  affection,  wherein  both  your  letters  now  sent 
me  do  give  assurance  with  ample  satisfaction  and  content- 
ment, which  I  beseech  God  to  multiply  and  increase  mutually 
between  you,  and  ever  to  thank  God  for  this  happy  conjunc- 
tion His  divine  power  hath  wrought  between  you  in  your 
climaterical  years.  I  sent  two  express  messengers  to  Ports- 
mouth to  inquire  of  my  Lord  your  father's  being  there  and 
yours,  with  a  resolution  if 'either  of  them  had  found  you 
there,  presently  to  have  journeyed  thither  purposely  to  have 
guided  you  home  to  this  poor  house.  And  as  for  Portsmouth, 
it  hath  ever  been  heretofore  entrusted  to  some  noble  man  of 
eminency  and  integrity  as  a  place  of  great  honour  and  com- 
mand. And  as  it  was  a  gracious  King  that  hath  considered 
so  honourable  and  beneficial  an  employment  upon  you,  so  it 
was  a  provident  indulgent  and  fortunate  father  that  com- 
passed it  so  happily  when  you  least  thought  of  it.  And  as 
I  do  exceedingly  approve  of  your  resolution  to  live  in  your 
father's  house  whilst  you  are  in  London,  and  to  make  Ports- 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S  SONS-IN-LAW       233 

mouth,  which  is  but  a  summer's  day's  journey  from  Stalbridge, 
the  place  of  your  residence  while  you  are  in  the  country  :  to 
which  your  intendments  I  promise  to  contribute  my  best 
assistance,  so  you  will  co-operate  with  your  good  father  in  the 
study  of  your  customary  affairs  out  of  which  much  sweetness 
is  to  be  sucked.  Give  over  immoderate  gaming  and  play, 
which  hath  much  disquieted  your  good  father  and  very  much 
your  mother,  and  with  many  private  discontentments  injured 
your  own  fortunes  and  misspent  your  time.  And  the  benefit 
of  both  these  my  poor  advices  will  principally  tend  to  your 
enrichment  and  content ;  which  no  man  can  more  desire  than 
myself ;  who  pray  you  to  tender  my  most  affectionate  service 
and  respects  unto  my  Lord  your  father,  and  noble  mother,  who 
is  a  prophetess,  as  also  to  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  and  his  excellent 
good  lady  and  to  yourself.  Th'  Earls  of  Kildare,  Barrymore, 
Dungarvan,  and  their  cabin  mates,  and  your  sister  Mary  with 
myself,  desire  to  be  most  kindly  remembered.  And  that  the 
God  of  Heaven  will  bless  and  guide  you  in  all  your  ways  : 
with  which  our  prayer  I  conclude  that  I  am  your  most 
affectionate  father-in-law  and  true  servant. 

'STALBRIDGE,  18  January  I639.'1 

So  a  brief  period  of  happiness  was  granted  to  poor  Lettice, 
and  she  was  permitted  to  join  the  great  family  gathering  at 
Stalbridge,  in  the  spring  of  1639.  Dorothy  Loftus  was  the 
only  one  of  Lord  Cork's  living  children  who  was  not  with 
him  at  that  time.  He  wrote  with  delight  of  the  arrival  of 
one  after  the  other  :  how,  on  the  i8th  of  May,  *  My  daughter 
Barrymore  came  back  from  the  Bath,  where  she  had  left  her 
daughter  Ellinor  for  cure,  and  she  hath  brought  back  from 
the  Bath  in  her  coach  Arthur  Jones  and  my  daughter 

1  L.  P.,  \l  5,  279. 


234     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Katherine  his  lady,  and  my  niece  Kate  Boyle,  who  with  her 
retinue  "were  exceedingly  welcome  unto  me.'  A  little  later 
Lord  Cork  mentions,  *  My  daughter  Goring  sent  Kate's 
footman  to  London  with  letters.' 

Kate  Jones  remained  at  Stalbridge  till  the  autumn,  when 
she  accompanied  her  father  to  London.  Warm-hearted  Sir 
John  Leeke  wrote  introducing  her  to  the  Verneys  as  '  my 
precious  Katherine '  one  of  the  most  beautiful  as  well  as  the 
most  talented  women  of  her  time.  'A  more  brave  wench,  nor 
a  braver  spirit  you  have  not  often  met  withal ;  she  hath  a 
memory  that  will  hear  a  sermon  and  go  home  and  pen  it 
after  dinner  verbatim.  I  know  not  how  she  will  appear  in 
England,  but  she  is  most  accounted  of  in  Dublin.' *  Alas  ! 
he  does  not  disguise  the  truth  about  Katherine's  husband,  but 
calls  him  bluntly  '  the  foulest  churl  in  Christendom,'  whose 
best  point  was  that  he  was  nightly  dead  drunk  and  so  pro- 
bably not  quarrelsome.  The  beauty  of  Katherine's  face,  '  the 
sweetest  in  the  world,'  Sir  John  admitted  was  somewhat 
decayed  by  sorrow,  but  certainly  what  the  love  and  almost 
adoration  of  her  family  and  friends  could  do .  to  compensate 
Katherine  for  what  was  lacking  in  her  husband,  never  was 
wanting. 

It  is  sad  to  admit  that  but  one  of  Lord  Cork's  sons-in-law 
seems  to  have  been  entirely  satisfactory.  Lord  Digby  never 
failed  to  show  himself  affectionate,  dutiful,  and  sensible.  It 
is  true  that  he,  like  the  rest  of  the  world,  borrowed  money 
from  Lord  Cork,  but  the  loan  was  not  to  pay  for  his  own 
extravagance,  but  to  redeem  the  encumbered  estates  of  Geashill 
from  debt,  that  they  might  descend  free  to  Lord  Cork's  grand- 
children. There  was  a  longstanding  difficulty  over  titles  and 
estates  between  Lord  Kildare  and  Lord  Digby 's  mother,  who 

1  Verney  Memoirs,  i.  203. 


THE   LORD   JUSTICE'S   SONS-IN-LAW       235 

was  the  direct  heiress  of  a  former  Earl  of  Kildare,  and  there- 
fore for  her  life  Baroness  Offaley,  although  the  earldom  had 
passed  away  to  the  male  line.  In  1633  the  Lord  Deputy 
entered  into  an  examination  of  the  case  between  Kildare  and 
Lady  Offaley,  and  the  Earl  of  Cork  wrote,  '  It  is  my  earnest 
prayer  that  God  may  send  a  good  conclusion  with  peace.' 
But  the  satisfactory  ending  of  this  family  debate  came  at  a 
time  of  sorrow.  Few  of  the  blows  which  varying  fortune 
brought  to  Lord  Cork  can  have  been  greater  than  that  which 
carried  off  the  sweetest  of  his  daughters.  He  wrote  in  July 
1633  :  'A  most  lamentable  day  to  me.  This  day  between 
three  and  four  of  the  clock  in  the  morning,  it  pleased  God 
in  his  great  mercy  to  translate  out  of  this  sinful  world  into 
his  heavenly  kingdom  my  second  and  most  dear  daughter,  the 
Lady  Sara  Digby,  who  departed  in  my  house  in  Dublin.'  She 
was  laid  in  her  mother's  tomb  in  St.  Patrick's  Cathedral,  and 
the  Lord  Primate  preached  the  funeral  sermon. 

The  formal  eloquence  of  a  panegyric  on  Sara  Digby,  sent 
by  Dungarvan's  college  friend,  James  Dillon,  to  the  Verneys, 
cannot  hide  the  warmth  of  his  real  feelings.  '  I  have  lost,' 
he  writes,  '  the  faithfullest  she  friend  that  ever  I  had,  or  ever 
look  to  meet  with.  My  Lady  Digby  is  dead,  whom  neither 
the  tears  of  her  father,  nor  the  sighs  of  her  husband,  nor  the 
prayers  of  the  poor,  nor  the  moans  of  her  friends,  nor  in  a 
word,  the  petitions  of  all  that  ever  knew  or  heard  of  her  could 
withhold  from  the  jaws  of  death.'1 

The  two  little  daughters  she  left  behind,  named  after  her 
sisters  Katherine  and  Lettice,  and  the  only  son,  Kildare,  were 
taken  care  of  by  their  grandmother  at  Geashill,  where  Lord 
Cork  mentions  that  in  1637  he  sent  them  a  present  of  an 
angel  apiece  by  Lord  Dungarvan,  who  was  riding  to  visit 
Lady  Offaley. 

1  Verney  Memoirs,  \.  232. 


CHAPTER    XIV 
THE   REIGN   OF  THOROUGH 

*  As  for  the  state,  indeed,  my  lord,  I  am  for  Thorough.' 

Laud  to  Went'worth. 

WENTWORTH'S  first  year  of  office  was  by  no  means  exclusively 
occupied  by  ridding  the  east  end  of  St.  Patrick's  of  the  Earl  of 
Cork's  tomb. 

The  eagerness  with  which  he  attacked  and  overthrew  that 
stately  erection  was  only  an  example  of  the  energy  which  he 
carried  into  every  act  of  his  administration.  The  day  of 
superficiality  and  routine  was  over  ;  the  Deputy's  favourite 
watchword,  Thorough,  meant  in  truth  a  thorough  revolution. 

It  is  tempting  to  speculate  what  might  have  been  the 
course  of  Irish  affairs  if  Wentworth  had  stooped  to  win  over 
Cork,  who  always  admitted  the  great  talent  and  energy  of 
the  Lord  Deputy.  But  Wentworth  had  already  made  up 
his  mind  that  nothing  could  prosper  in  Ireland  till  he  had 
brought  down  the  mighty  from  their  seats  ;  then,  when  all, 
both  great  and  small,  had  been  tutored  to  submission,  a 
benevolent  despotism  should  bring  back  the  Golden  Age. 
But  before  this  could  be,  every  possible  opponent  must  be 
taught  his  proper  place,  and  taught  also  the  Lord  Deputy's 
opinion  of  him,  his  capacities,  and  his  honesty.  Strafford 
said  later  on  :  '  Where  I  found  a  crown,  a  church,  and  a 
people  spoiled,  I  could  not  imagine  to  redeem  them  from 


236 


THE   REIGN   OF   THOROUGH  237 

under   the   pressure   with   gracious   smiles   and  gentle   looks. 
It  would  cost  warmer  water  than  so  ! ' 

While  the  Justices  were  walking  in  procession  and  flattering 
themselves  that  the  country  was  in  an  unexampled  condition 
of  prosperity,  Wentworth  was  writing  back  to  England, 
'  I  find  them  in  this  place  a  company  of  men  the  most  intent 
upon  their  own  ends  that  ever  I  met  with,  and  so  as  those 
speed,  they  consider  other  things  at  a  very  great  distance. 
I  take  the  Crown  to  be  very  ill  served.'1  The  army,  he 
vowed,  was  only  an  army  in  name  ;  and  so  far  from  there 
being  any  attempt  at  a  navy,  the  coasts  were  abandoned  to 
Algerine  rovers  and  English  pirates,  from  whom  even  he 
himself  had  barely  escaped,  with  the  loss,  he  wrote,  of  '  as 
much  linen  as  cost  me  £500  ;  and  in  good  faith  I  fear  I  have 
lost  my  apparel  too.'  In  his  impatience  at  the  muddle  of 
public  affairs,  Wentworth  did  not  pause  to  remember  that 
the  much-abused  Lords  Justices  had  been  besieging  him  ever 
since  his  appointment  with  lamentations  over  unpaid  soldiers, 
ill-equipped  vessels,  and  the  ravages  of  the  Algerine  rovers 
who  had  but  just  sacked  Baltimore. 

At  first  Wentworth  appeared  willing  to  distinguish  between 
the  system,  and  the  men  who  had  carried  it  on  ;  and  although 
his  reforms  began  at  once,  he  endeavoured  by  formal  com- 
pliments and  exchange  of  courtesies  to  show  that  no  personal 
ill-feeling  dictated  his  policy. 

In  January  1634,  the  Earl  of  Cork  and  Lord  Loftus  both 
dined  and  supped  at  the  Castle,  and  saw  a  play  acted  by  the 
Lord  Deputy's  gentlemen.  Puritans  though  the  Lords  Justices 
had  been  called,  they  had  no  scruples  concerning  theatricals, 
or  against  gambling  for  tolerably  high  stakes.  Lord  Cork 
lost  sixty-four  pounds  to  the  Deputy  at  '  quairter  lo  dicen,' 

1  Straff  or  d  Letters,  i.  97. 


238     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

though  the  prudent  Chancellor  only  lost  five  pounds. 
Fortune,  which  was  generally  kind  to  Lord  Cork,  revenged 
herself  on  him  whenever  he  tried  his  luck  in  games  ;  in 
earlier  days  he  had  sadly  recorded  that  he  lost  £17,  135.  6d. 
when  he  played  at  Mawe,  and  at  a  Christmas  party  in  Went- 
worth's  time,  *  when  myself,  Dungarvan,  and  Lord  Digby 
only,  came  and  dined,  the  Lord  Deputy  and  I  lost  at  Mawe 
six  pieces  of  five  shillings  each  to  Lord  Moore  and  the  Lord 
Chancellor.'  But  his  loss  of  thirty  shillings  was  not  the 
worst  of  this  story,  for  then  more  theatricals  followed,  and 
'  we  saw  a  tragedy  in  the  parliament  house,  and  which  was 
tragical,  for  we  had  no  supper  ! ' l 

Lord  Cork  was  indeed  a  jovial  old  gentlemen  when  he  was 
left  in  peace,  in  spite  of  bereavement  and  worries.  He  could 
enjoy  wagering  a  pair  of  silk  stockings  with  roses  and  garters 
to  Lady  Parsons,  over  the  day  on  which  Lord  Westmeath 
would  return  from  his  travels  ;  and  in  April  1 634  he  was  at  the 
Curragh  races,  when  he  backed  Lord  Digby's  horse  against 
one  of  the  Earl  of  Ormond's,  and  lost  a  new  beaver  hat 
Sir  Thomas  Stafford  had  sent  him,  to  Mr.  Ferrers,  one  of  the 
Deputy's  gentlemen. 

The  Deputy  seemed  anxious  to  advertise  the  fact  that  no 
personal  dislike  moved  him  to  his  endless  wrangles  with  the 
old  Earl.  One  evening  as  the  Boyle  family  were  at  supper, 
'  unknown  to  any,  up  comes  the  Lord  Deputy,  attended  by 
the  Earl  of  Ormond  and  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  [Wandesford]. 
His  Lordship,  very  nobly  and  neighbourly,  sat  down  and 
took  part  of  my  supper  without  any  addition,  and  Cath.  his 
Lordship's  daughter  came  and  dined  with  me  that  day.'  Yet 
only  two  days  after  this  friendly  supper-party,  the  Deputy  in 
council  ordered  £5  costs  against  Lord  Cork  for  having  failed 

1  Jan.  1636. 


THE    REIGN   OF   THOROUGH  239 

to  put  in  an  answer  to  some  complaint,  'which  £5  I  paid 
much  against  my  will.  God  forgive  the  Lord  Deputy.' 

A  good  deal  of  Wentworth's  thunder  and  lightning  appears 
to  have  been  really  bluff.  He  confided  to  Cottington  that  a 
Lord  Deputy  was  always  better  obeyed  on  his  entrance  than 
on  his  departure  ;  *  whilst  they  take  me  to  be  a  person  of  much 
more  power  with  the  King  and  of  stronger  abilities  in  myself 
than  indeed  I  have  reason  either  in  fact  or  in  right  to  judge 
myself  to  be,  I  shall,  it  may  be,  do  the  King  some  service.'1 

It  was  indeed  necessary  for  a  Deputy  to  rule  with  a  high 
hand  if  any  conventionalities  at  all  were  to  be  observed. 
Members  of  Parliament  were  still  as  ready  for  a  free  fight  as 
when  Crofton,  Boyle,  and  Barnaby  O'Brien  seated  the  Speaker 
on  Sir  John  Everard's  lap,2  and,  respectable  greybeards  though 
they  were,  Cork  and  Loftus  still  thought  no  shame  of  quarrels 
that  in  the  present  day  would  have  carried  them  both  to  the 
police  court ;  and  what  is  even  stranger,  Cork  thought  no  shame 
of  writing  down  the  squabbles,  word  for  word,  in  his  diary, 
not  veiled  in  prudent  cypher,  like  Mr.  Pepys's  confessions,  but 
plain  and  clear  for  all  who  come  after  to  read,  and  for  his  sons 
to  comment  on  in  the  margins,  as  they  occasionally  did. 

One  quarrel  began  during  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of 
an  official  procession.  When  the  Deputy  took  up  his  appoint- 
ment in  Dublin,  he  was  displeased  at  finding  the  nobility 
did  not  present  themselves  to  escort  him  on  his  state  attend- 
ance at  church.  He  wrote  to  the  King  that  he  believed  this 
negligence  did  not  come  from  any  ill-feeling,  but  was  a  protest 
against  doing  that  as  a  duty  which  they  held  to  be  a  matter  of 
courtesy.  He  therefore  begged  his  Majesty  to  desire  all  to 
attend,  the  bishops  wearing  their  rochets,  the  noblemen  and 
councillors  'upon  their  footclothes,  or  otherwise, on  horseback.'3 

1  Strafford  Letters,  i.  96.          2  See  chap.  vi.  ante.          3  Strafford  Letters,  i.  200. 


24o    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 

The  procession  accordingly  was  formed  on  the  following 
Sunday,  but  its  dignity  must  have  been  sadly  marred  by  the 
Lord  Treasurer  and  the  Lord  Chancellor,  who  abused  each 
other  like  fishwives  all  the  way  to  church,  and  then  Cork  went 
home  after  sermon  and  wrote  it  all  down. 

The  quarrel,  of  course,  began  about  the  mortgage  made 
long  years  before  on  Loftus's  lands  at  Cre  Eustace.  Lord  Cork 
writes : — 

'August  1633.  As  the  Lord  Chancellor  and  myself  this 
day  rode  after  the  Lord  Deputy  to  Christ  Church,  when  he 
came  where  the  mayor  and  aldermen  attended,  there  was 
Sir  James  Carroll  amongst  them  ;  whereupon  the  Lord 
Chancellor  said  to  me,  "  Your  Lordship  hath  furnished  Sir 
James  Carroll  with  stores  of  money  now."  I  told  him  I 
had  done  what  I  thought  meet  to  secure  my  interests  in 
Cre  Eustace.  He  replied  that  there  was  neither  honour  nor 
honesty  in  so  doing.  I  answered  I  never  did  any  thing  that 
was  not  both  honourable  and  honest,  nor  hoped  in  God  ever 
to  do,  and  wished  his  Lordship  had  been  as  careful  to  do 
honourable  and  honest  things  as  I  have  been,  and  that  if  he 
would  turn  those  his  speeches  to  himself  he  should  place  them 
righter  than  upon  me,  neither  should  he  have  any  foot  of 
my  lands,  having  paid  nothing  for  them,  when  I  had  paid 
over  £4000  for  them.  He  replied,  "  He  tendered  me  the 
mortgage."  "  Yes,"  quoth  I,  "  but  that  was  neither  honour- 
able nor  honest "  ;  and  that  renewed  the  unkindness  between 
us.  For  that  I  would  never  have  laid  out  my  ^4000  in  the 
redemption  of  Cre  Eustace  to  Sir  Nicholas  White  if,  after  my 
tender  thereof  to  his  Lordship  and  his  refusal,  I  had  not  had 
his  consent  to  deal  therein,  and  his  promise  to  further  me 
therein.  "I  deny  any  such  promise,"  quoth  he.  "I  must 
justify  it  then,"  said  I,  "and  also  prove  it,  and  to  whom  you 


THE   REIGN   OF   THOROUGH  241 

thus  acknowledged  it."  "Well,"  said  he,  "as  long  as  you 
and  I  were  Justices  I  did  forbear  to  sue  you  for  it,  but  now 
I  will  begin."  "  Even  when  you  please,"  quoth  I.  "  I  will 
entreat  no  favour  from  you  therein."  And  so  we  alighted 
and  went  into  church.' 

The  quarrel  with  the  Chancellor  naturally  ran  through  all 
Cork's  public  and  private  business.  At  this  time  the  suit 
with  Blacknoll's  widow  was  still  dragging  on,  and  whether 
from  carelessness  or  as  an  intentional  mortification,  the  Deputy 
had  again  and  again  postponed  the  trial,  or  commanded  a  meet- 
ing of  the  Council  at  which  Cork  was  obliged  to  be  present, 
so  as  to  clash  with  the  hour  of  trial.  The  expense  of  keeping 
his  witnesses  idle  in  Dublin  was  very  great,  and  the  difficulties 
put  in  his  way  were  a  constant  irritation  to  Cork.  He  knew, 
however,  that  the  Deputy  was  not  his  only  adversary  in  this 
matter,  and  one  day,  finding  Wentworth  walking  alone  in  his 
gallery,  he  took  the  opportunity  to  explain  that  their  long- 
standing quarrel  made  it  impossible  for  the  Chancellor  to  be 
an  indifferent  judge  in  his  cause.  But  the  Deputy  himself 
was  concerned  in  the  matter,  as  Blacknoll  had  managed  to 
defraud  him  of  ^400,  and  his  friend  Sir  George  RatclifF  of  a 
like  sum,  so  possibly  on  that  account  he  declined  to  interfere 
with  the  ordinary  course  of  affairs.  The  Chancellor,  therefore, 
presided  at  the  trial,  when,  as  had  been  expected,  *  he  made,' 
Cork  writes,  '  a  long  impertinent  speech.  I  replied  I  was  not 
of  his  opinion.  His  Lordship  replied,  I  care  not  for  your 
opinion.  Nor  I  for  yours,  quoth  I,  and  his  Lordship  said  he 
cared  not  a  rush  for  me,  and  so  we  disputed,  till  the  Deputy 
told  us  we  were  two  great  officers  of  his  Majesty  and  prayed 
us  to  be  quiet.  But  we,  multiplying  our  unkind  conceits  one 
upon  another,  the  Lord  Deputy  required  and  commanded  us 
to  be  quiet,  and  addressed  his  speech  to  the  two  judges,  who 

Q 


242     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

gave  their  opinions  against  the  Chancellor,  wherein  the  Deputy 
concurred.' 

But  though  the  nobility  might  wrangle  among  themselves, 
the  drama  that  was  now  to  be  played  out  in  Ireland  soon 
resolved  itself  into  a  duel  between  Wentworth  and  Cork  ;  all 
the  Deputy's  lesser  enemies  were  quickly  swept  out  of  the  way, 
only  the  indomitable  old  Munster  Grandee  held  his  place. 

The  chief  matter  to  occupy  the  new  Governor  of  Ireland 
was  finance,  for  the  revenue  that  sufficed  for  the  administration 
of  the  thrifty  Earl  of  Cork  would  not  permit  of  the  new  plans 
which  Wentworth  was  resolved  to  inaugurate. 

When  the  Privy  Council  met,  Cork  was  slow  to  speak  ; 
he  sat  silent  and  wary,  still  uncertain  whether  the  new  Deputy 
would  be  a  friend  or  a  foe.  As  the  Treasurer  made  no  motion 
Sir  Adam  Loftus  spoke,  advising  that  the  contribution  then 
paid  by  the  country  to  the  Treasury  should  be  continued  for  a 
year  longer,  and  in  the  meantime  a  parliament  should  be  called 
to  decide  on  a  new  system  of  taxation.  The  Master  of  the 
Wards  was  then,  after  another  long  silence,  called  on  to  speak, 
but  '  answered  the  Deputy's  expectation  very  poorly.' 

'  I  was  then,'  continued  Wentworth,  when  describing  the 
scene  to  Coke,  '  put  to  my  last  refuge,  which  was  plainly 
to  declare  that  there  was  no  necessity  which  induced  me  to 
take  counsel  with  them  in  this  business,  for  rather  than  fail  in 
so  necessary  a  duty  to  my  master  I  would  undertake  upon  the 
peril  of  my  head  to  make  the  King's  army  able  to  subsist 
without  their  help,'  and  had  only  put  this  fair  occasion  in  their 
hands  out  of  respect  to  them.  But  after  this  outburst  he 
condescended  to  agree  with  Sir  Adam  Loftus,  and  advised  them 
to  offer  his  Majesty  the  next  year's  contribution,  with  their 
desires  for  a  parliament.  Lord  Mountnorris  and  the  Chan- 
cellor showed  themselves  very  ready  to  support  this  proposal, 


THE   REIGN   OF   THOROUGH  243 

'  the  Earl  of  Cork  silent,  till  I  had  propounded  a  parlia- 
ment, and  then  he  did  very  effectually  declare  his  consent 
and  delivered  his  opinion  that  there  was  all  the  reason  and 
justice  in  the  world  that  the  army  should  be  maintained  hence, 
without  charge  to  the  crown  of  England  ;  not  doubting  but  the 
next  year's  contribution  would  be  willingly  paid  and  a  course 
settled  for  the  future  by  the  Parliament.  As  for  Sir  William 
Parsons,  first  and  last  I  found  him  the  dryest  of  the  company. 
.  .  .  For  the  present  only  I  should  humbly  advise  that  in 
some  part  of  your  next  letter  you  would  be  pleased  to  give  a 
touch  with  your  pen  concerning  Sir  Adam  Loftus,  such  as  I 
might  show  him,  for  he  deserves  it ;  it  will  encourage  the 
well  affected  and  affright  the  others  when  they  shall  see  their 
actions  are  rightly  understood  by  his  Majesty  ;  and  also  some 
good  words  for  the  Lord  Chancellor,  the  Earl  of  Cork,  the 
Earl  of  Ormond,  and  the  Lord  Mountnorris.'  * 

Lord  Cork  had  the  traditional  English  belief  in  a  parlia- 
ment, even  if  that  parliament  but  represented  the  shadow  to 
which  Irish  independence  had  been  reduced.  The  King,  who 
had  no  very  pleasant  experiences  of  meeting  his  faithful  subjects 
at  St.  Stephen's,  was  most  unwilling  that  the  Deputy  should 
call  an  Irish  parliament  together,  but  Wentworth  knew  that 
Poynings'  Law  gave  the  Irish  legislators  into  the  hollow  of 
his  hand,  and  that  the  King's  fears  and  Cork's  hopes  were 
equally  vain.  He  assured  his  Majesty  he  need  have  no  fear  of 
trouble,  this  parliament  should  be  '  the  basis  and  foundation  of 
the  greatest  happiness  and  prosperity  that  ever  befell  the  nation.' 

The  writs  were  therefore  issued,  and  Wentworth  took 
care  that  the  elections  should  be  to  his  mind.  In  July,  when 
Lord  Cork  was  out  driving,  Lord  Digby  and  Lord  Esmond 
being  in  the  coach  with  him,  he  received  six  letters  from  the 

1  Stratford  Letters,  i.  98-99. 


244     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Deputy,  directing  him  what  gentlemen  to  return  as  members 
for  his  six  boroughs  !  This  was  truly  to  be  a  packed  parlia- 
ment !  All  the  members  were  the  Deputy's  friends  or 
dependants,  save  only  that  as  Bandon  returned  two  burgesses, 
Lord  Cork  was  permitted  to  send  his  cousin,  Mr.  Wiseman, 
to  represent  it  along  with  Sir  George  Wentworth. 

But  Lord  Cork's  compliance  with  the  Deputy's  commands 
did  not  gain  him  any  indulgence.  He  was  astonished  and 
offended,  during  the  sitting  of  the  council  in  August  1634,  to 
be  handed  a  packet  of  letters  from  some  of  his  most  intimate 
friends,  Falkland,  Ranelagh,  and  Sir  William  Beecher,  and  to 
find  that  some  of  them  were  dated  two  years  back  !  The 
messenger  who  had  detained  them  received  no  reproof;  and 
to  make  the  case  complete,  the  Deputy  picked  up  the  letters 
from  the  table,  opened  and  read  them,  without  any  remark  or 
excuse  to  Lord  Cork !  Wentworth  never  condescended  to 
subterfuge  ;  it  suited  him  better  to  open  and  read  suspicious 
letters,  in  the  face  of  the  man  to  whom  they  were  directed, 
than  to  intercept  them  after  the  ways  of  more  wily  diplomatists. 
But  it  is  no  wonder  that  Lord  Cork's  eldest  son  wrote  on  the 
margin  of  this  narrative,  *  a  strange  injury.' 

But  even  yet  the  council  was  not  schooled  to  perfect  self- 
effacement,  and  after  Lord  Cork  had  been  thus  rudely  set 
down,  it  ventured  to  begin  to  discuss  the  subjects  of  the  bills 
that  were  to  be  laid  before  Parliament  during  the  coming 
session.  On  hearing  of  this  audacity,  Wentworth  says,  '  I 
went  instantly  to  them  and  told  them  plainly  I  feared  they 
began  at  the  wrong  end,'  and  silenced  them  so  effectually  that 
*  with  all  cheerfulness  they  professed  they  would  entirely 
conform  themselves '  to  his  counsels.1 

When    Parliament    met,    the    Deputy    took    the    earliest 

1  Str afford  Letters,  i.  255. 


THE   REIGN   OF   THOROUGH  245 

opportunity  to  make  the  assembled  members  realise  they  were 
only  called  together  to  endorse  his  commands.  This  oppor- 
tunity was  given  to  him  by  Cork's  old  antagonist  Sir  Vincent 
Cooking,  who  had  lately  been  publishing  scathing  criticisms 
on,  it  would  appear,  everybody  and  everything  in  Ireland, 
which  remarks,  the  Parliament  claimed,  were  a  breach  of 
privilege  ;  but  as  the  Deputy  did  not  like  to  hear  the  word 
c  privilege,'  and  objected  to  their  moving  in  the  matter, 
the  houses  meekly  submitted,  *  praying  his  Lordship  to  take 
his  punishment  unto  his  own  guidance.'  And  the  Cooking 
cause  was  quickly  forgotten  in  one  of  more  interest  to  the 
Deputy. 

The  Lords,  Judges,  and  Commissioners  were  commanded 
to  attend  in  Castle  Chamber,  as  they  imagined  to  consider 
Sir  Vincent's  case,  when  suddenly  the  Deputy  turned  on  Lord 
Cork,  violently  reproving  him  for  not  having  sent  in  to  him 
certain  deeds  which  he  desired  to  see  concerning  the  royal 
grants  of  Youghal.  By  good  fortune  the  Earl  had  the  deeds 
with  him  in  a  box  and  could  exhibit  them,  but  '  so,'  he  writes, 
'  without  any  other  motion  it  began  and  ended  in  me,  and  so 
the  council  rose  and  I  came  home  in  my  own  and  not  in  my 
Lord  Deputy's  coach,  into  which  I  was  invited  and  rode  with 
his  Lordship  to  court' ;  and,  so  far  as  Lord  Cork's  diary  goes, 
that  was  the  end  of  the  Cooking  case.  His  own  troubles 
came  on  him  too  fast  to  allow  him  leisure  to  blame  or  pity 
Sir  Vincent,  whom  we  never  hear  of  again. 

Parliament  had,  of  course,  only  been  called  together  in 
order  to  vote  funds  for  carrying  on  the  affairs  of  the  country. 
The  Lord  Deputy  asked  for  six  subsidies,  as  those  already 
granted  only  provided  for  the  current  year  1634.  To  preserve 
the  form  of  consulting  the  council,  five  lords  were  summoned 
to  attend  the  Deputy  ;  Lord  Cork  relates,  '  We,  not  knowing 


246     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

beforehand  what  we  were  sent  for,  the  Earl  of  Fingal  moved 
to  know  if  it  were  his  Lordship's  pleasure  to  have  it  communi- 
cated to  the  Lords  of  the  House,  which  was  denied,  or  for 
the  Lords  to  have  any  meeting  about  it.'  Lord  Cork's  share 
of  the  subsidy  thus  imposed  on  the  country  was  estimated 
at  £3600,  which  he  protested  was  grossly  overrating  his 
property.  He  was  merely  answered  that  when  the  rating  had 
been  in  his  hands,  he  had  underrated  himself  and  his  towns, 
and  the  contribution  must  be  paid.  The  account  given  of 
the  rating  by  Cork's  supporters  is  that,  when  the  Justices 
took  over  the  government  from  Lord  Falkland,  they  had 
*  found  the  country  generally  exhausted  and  very  poor, 
occasioned  by  the  levies  of  heavy  taxes,  the  mortality  of 
cattle,  scarcity  of  corn,  and  decay  of  trade.  Most  of  the  new 
corporations  in  Munster  were  almost  depopulated,  particularly 
Dingle,  Tralee,  Baltimore,  Tallagh,  Bandon,  Ardfert,  Lismore, 
Cloghnakilty,  Askeaton,  and  Dungarvan  ;  who,  on  the  change 
of  government,  sent  up  petitions  to  be  eased  of  those  taxes  ; 
setting  forth  that  there  were  fifty-three  corporations  in  the 
other  provinces  that  only  paid  with  the  country  at  large ; 
upon  which  the  council  ordered  that  they  should  not,  for  the 
future,  pay  more  than  rateably  for  what  lands  they  had  in 
their  liberties ;  and  the  rather  because  the  charge  of  the 
country  was,  by  the  Earl  of  Cork's  means,  reduced  from 
£40,000  to  £20,000  a  year,  which  was  both  a  great  ease  to 
the  kingdom,  and  was  also  found  sufficient  to  support  the 
army  three  years  till  Easter  1633  ;  but  when,  in  July  follow- 
ing, Lord  Wentworth,  afterwards  Earl  of  Strafford,  came  to 
the  government,  he  moved  the  Lords  to  give  their  consent, 
and  to  signify  the  same  by  their  letters  through  the  kingdom, 
that  £20,000  might  be  raised  to  maintain  the  forces  for 
another  year,  to  begin  in  January  1633,  which  the  kingdom 


THE   REIGN   OF  THOROUGH  247 

consented  to,  the  new  corporations  of   Munster   paying   as 
before  only  a  fair  proportion.' l 

But  when  that  proportion  was  paid,  the  Deputy,  on  his 
own  warrant,  ordered  the  President  of  Munster  to  levy 
^1000  more  on  these  towns,  upon  which  Tallow  ventured  to 
petition  against  the  £144,  i8s.  which  was  laid  on  it  in 
addition  to  what  it  had  already  paid.  The  answer  to  the 
petition  was  prompt.  The  Deputy  quartered  his  troops  on  the 
town  till  the  principal  citizens  entered  into  bonds  for  the 
payment  of  the  assessment,  and  not  till  then  were  the  horse- 
men withdrawn  !  The  contribution  demanded  from  Cork's 
private  property  was  only  paid  off  by  degrees,  and  it  was 
not  till  May  1638  that  he  wrote,  'The  whole  ^3000  which 
the  Lord  Deputy  (God  never  forgive  his  good  Lordship) 
taxed  me  withal,  is  fully  satisfied  and  paid.' 

1  Smith,  ii.  61-62. 


CHAPTER    XV 
MY   LORD   DUNGARVAN 

*  About  me  leaped  and  laughed 
The  modish  Cupid  of  the  day 
And  shrilled  his  tinsel  shaft.' 

The  Talking  Oak. 

THE  tension  between  Lord  Cork  and  the  Deputy  was  rather 
increased  than  lessened  by  the  treaty  set  on  foot  by  Wentworth 
for  a  marriage  between  Lord  Cork's  heir  and  his  own  niece, 
Elizabeth  Clifford,  granddaughter  and,  with  her  sister,  co-heir 
to  the  old  Earl  of  Cumberland.  Her  mother  was  a  Cecil, 
sister  of  the  second  Earl  of  Salisbury,  so  the  match  was  as  fine 
a  one  as  Lord  Cork's  heart  could  desire. 

Whether  Wentworth  had  taken  a  liking  to  young 
Dungarvan,  or  merely  considered  him  a  good  match,  is  not 
very  clear  ;  but  when  first  proposed,  Cork  certainly  took  the 
offer  as  a  compliment,  and  a  good  omen  for  his  future  relations 
with  the  new  Deputy. 

Young  Dungarvan  had  spent  a  couple  of  years  at  Oxford, 
but  there  he  had  grown  very  homesick,  and  begged  his  father 
pitifully  to  let  him  leave,  urging,  *  Good  my  Lord,  I  have  a 
longing  desire  to  see  you  ! '  Dungarvan's  petition  was  granted, 
and  he  returned  to  Ireland  in  1630,  in  time  to  be  present  at 
his  sister  Joan's  marriage  to  Lord  Kildare  ;  and  once  at  home, 
his  father  seemed  unable  to  part  with  him,  and  there  was  no 
thought  of  his  returning  to  Oxford.  He  fell  into  his  natural 


248 


Svj,*-,- 


//I  ir//ii /'tf  .  I  /'.)<•<>// /i  /      ./  t/t/i/i'/'i  'f /I 

,,//<  •)»;,>, /.I 
(',,,/,/      /',•,'/,•«,,,/.    '/'l,l  ,'/,',,,//<:,,    . 


MY   LORD   DUNGARVAN  249 

place  at  Lord  Cork's  side,  riding  with  him  to  races  and 
assizes,  and,  save  for  a  little  extravagance  in  tailors'  bills, 
'Dick'  seems  to  have  been  a  model  son.  He  had  not  the 
brilliancy  of  his  younger  brothers  Roger  and  Robert,  but  he 
was  a  sensible,  gallant  young  fellow,  and  no  doubt  had  more 
fun  in  him  than  he  let  appear  in  his  letters  to  his  father. 

Just  as  the  old  Earl  was  congratulating  himself  on  the 
prospect  of  the  Clifford  alliance,  he  was  much  taken  aback 
when  the  King  himself  condescended  to  express  a  wish  that 
Dungarvan  should  offer  himself  to  Lady  Anne  Fielding,  a 
maid  of  honour,  and  '  niece  to  our  late  servant  the  Duke  of 
Buckingham.'  Lord  Cork  in  a  great  hurry  sent  off  his  son  to 
England,  under  charge  of  his  Swiss  tutor  Mr.  Frey,  to  do  his 
best  to  slip  out  of  the  Fielding  marriage  and  conclude  the 
Clifford  match. 

Dungarvan's  accbunt  of  his  interview  with  King  Charles  is 
interesting.  The  Lord  Holland  who  introduced  him  at  court 
was  the  son  of  that  Deputy  Mount] oy  who  had  aided  Carew 
to  pacify  Ireland  in  the  days  when  Boyle  was  but  the  clerk  to 
the  Munster  Council. 

'July  16,  1632.     LONDON. 

*  MY    MOST    HONOURED    LoRDAND    FATHER, What    Our 

proceedings  were  at  York  in  my  letter  by  Turlogh  I  fully 
related  unto  you.  Now  I  will  give  your  Lordship  an  account 
of  my  actions  since  my  coming  hither.  The  eighth  of  this 
month  we  arrived  here  late,  the  ninth  we  rested  ourselves  all 
day,  and  the  tenth  we  went  to  Greenwich  to  wait  upon  the 
King,  but  he  being  come  to  St.  James',  my  Lord  Ranelagh 
and  I  followed  him  thither. 

*  As  soon  as  I  came  to  court  I  made  my  addresses  to  my 
Lord  Holland,  and  desired  him  to   do  me  the  favour  as  to 


250    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

bring  me  to  kiss  the  King's  hand  ;  he  immediately  went  down 
unto  chapel  where  the  King  then  sat  to  have  his  picture  drawn, 
and  brought  him  up  to  where  we  were.  As  soon  as  I  saw  him 
coming  I  fell  on  my  knee,  and  the  King  [reached]  his  hand 
and  gave  it  me  to  kiss.  After  I  was  risen  he  called  my  Lord 
Ranelagh  into  the  gallery,  and  there  discoursed  with  him  a 
quarter  of  an  hour.  What  it  was  I  leave  to  his  own  relation, 
who  I  am  sure  will  give  you  a  perfect  account  of  it,  but  the 
King  having  ended  with  him  called  for  me,  and  when  I  came 
to  him  told  me  he  had  written  a  letter  to  your  Lordship, 
wherein  he  propounded  a  marriage  between  my  Lady  of 
Denbigh's  daughter  and  me,  and  desired  that  your  Lordship 
would  understand  him  the  right  way  it  was  meant,  and  believe 
the  letter  was  neither  procured  by  importunity  of  friends  nor 
as  a  common  letter,  but  his  own  well  wishes  to  both  your 
Lordship  and  my  Lady  Denbigh's  family  made  him  first 
make  the  proposition  ;  whereof  he  never  received  from  your 
Lordship  an  answer.  I  answered  his  Majesty  that  your  Lord- 
ship thought  you  could  give  him  no  greater  testimony  of  your 
obedience  to  his  commands  than  in  sending  me  over  to  attend 
his  will  and  pleasure.  The  King  seemed  with  that  very  well 
satisfied,  and  then  told  me  he  heard  there  was  some  engage- 
ment between  Mrs.  Clifford  and  me,  and  therefore  desired  to 
hear  from  me  the  truth  of  my  proceedings  there.  I  then 
informed  his  Majesty  that  you  received  from  the  Lord  Deputy 
a  proposition  touching  Mrs.  Clifford  which  you  declared  unto 
me,  and  advised  me  if  it  lay  in  my  way  to  go  and  view  her, 
but  commanded  me  strictly  not  to  engage  myself  till  I  had 
waited  upon  your  Majesty  and  received  your  commands. 
Then  when  I  came  into  Yorkshire  my  Lord  Clifford  invited 
me  to  his  house,  when  I  saw  his  daughter  and  presented  my 
humble  services  to  her,  but  from  all  engagements  I  assured 


MY   LORD   DUNGARVAN  251 

his  Majesty  I  was  free,  and  would  be  until  I  had  satisfied  him. 
Then  the  King  told  me,  for  to  urge  my  affections  was  against 
his  disposition  and  a  way  he  never  meant  to  use  with  any  of 
his  subjects,  much  less  with  any  of  your  children,  he  having 
found  your  Lordship  so  faithful  and  honest  a  servant  unto 
him,  but  he  desired  I  would  rather  match  into  that  family 
than  any,  it  being  the  family  which  above  all  others  he  did 
esteem  and  love.  I  answered  his  Majesty  that  nobody  was 
more  a  servant  to  that  family  than  your  Lordship,  and  for  my 
part  I  had  the  greatest  desire  to  match  there  of  any  place  till 
my  misfortunes  made  me  vow  the  contrary.  Then  I  told  his 
Majesty  that  about  seven  years  since  there  was  a  proposition 
of  a  marriage  between  Mrs.  Anne  Villiers  and  me,  that  I  had 
seen  her  and  liked  her  as  well  as  it  were  possible  for  one  of 
my  age  to  like  a  woman,  and  that  after  this,  the  match  was 
between  our  parents  broken  off,  and  when  I  saw  she  was  dis- 
posed of  another  way,  I  made  a  vow  unto  myself  that  since 
my  misfortune  was  so  great  as  to  miss  her,  I  would  never 
marry  any  of  that  family.  This  answer  I  think  satisfied  the 
King  more  than  any,  as  my  Lord  of  Holland  afterwards  told 
me.  And  then  the  King  said  :  "  My  Lord,  conclude  upon 
nothing  suddenly,  lay  your  hand  upon  your  heart  and  give 
me  an  answer  as  your  affection  moves  you  ;  this  much  I  will 
assure  you,  whether  you  like  or  dislike  the  lady  I  will  never 
think  the  worse  of  you  "  ;  and  thereupon  the  King  departed. 
My  Lord,  I  vow  unto  you  I  never  saw  a  man  express  himself 
more  sweetly  and  nobly  than  the  King  did  in  this  business. 
On  Wednesday  I  will  attend  the  King  at  Oatlands  and  there 
give  him  my  answer,  and  desire  leave  of  him  to  travel.  I 
hope  to  set  forward  on  this  day  sennight.  What  answer  the 
King  shall  make  I  will  write  unto  your  Lordship,  and  then 
advertise  you  of  many  passages  here.  I  pray,  my  Lord,  if  I 


252     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

fail  in  any  part  of  my  relation  to  you,  let  me  know  of  it  and 
I  will  mend  it  in  my  next  letter.' l 

It  may  perhaps  be  remembered  that  when  Dungarvan  was 
a  boy  of  thirteen  -there  had  been  talk  of  marrying  him  to  one 
of  Sir  Edward  Villiers's  daughters,  a  first  cousin  of  the  proposed 
Denbigh  bride.  The  King  had  truly  good  reason  to  assert  he 
would  not  force  any  one's  affections,  for  the  eldest  daughter  of 
Lord  Denbigh  was  now  dying  broken-hearted,  the  victim  of 
a  loveless  match  made  by  royal  command  ;  but  the  whole  inter- 
view gives  an  idea  of  a  pleasanter,  more  cordial  manner  than 
many  reports  credit  to  Charles  the  First. 

Dungarvan's  difficulties  were  not  yet  at  an  end.  No 
sooner  had  he  won  permission  from  the  King  to  decline 
one  young  lady  than  he  found  the  other  slipping  out  of 
his  fingers.  Like  a  thunderbolt  came  a  letter  from  Lord 
Clifford,  saying  he  heard  rumours  that  the  negotiations  for 
his  daughter's  hand  were  merely  a  bait  held  out  by  Lord  Cork 
to  propitiate  Wentworth,  and  were  not  entered  into  in  earnest. 
The  suggestion  was  so  dangerously  plausible  that  only  one 
person  was  capable  of  having  invented  it  :  Dungarvan's 
brother-in-law,  George  Goring,  whether  from  idle  ill-nature 
or  from  sharing  his  wife's  predilection  for  the  Fielding  match, 
had  determined  to  spoil  Lord  Cork's  fine  scheme  of  securing 
the  Clifford  heiress,  and  he  nearly  succeeded  in  his  design. 
Lord  Clifford  was  naturally  deeply  hurt  by  the  report  of 
Lord  Cork's  dishonest  intentions,  and  writing  from  Hatfield, 
where  he  was  staying  with  his  brother-in-law,  Lord  Salisbury, 
demanded  an  explanation.  He  became  almost  incoherent  in 
his  desire  to  express  his  liking  for  Dungarvan  without  calling 
Dungarvan's  brother-in-law  a  liar  ! 

1  L.  P.,\l  3.  184. 


MY   LORD   DUNGARVAN  253 

'  NOBLE  SIR, — Since  I  cannot  expect  to  see  you  before 
your  travels,  and  hold  it  fit  (and  so  doth  my  Lord  of 
Salisbury)  and  most  necessary  to  acquaint  your  Lordship  with 
some  ill  language  which  hath  lately  been  repeated  to  my  Lord 
of  Salisbury  and  myself  by  a  person  of  no  ordinary  quality  or 
repute  ;  and  your  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Goring,  was  the  man 
who  should  say  these  words.  .  .  .  Mr.  Goring  said  :  "  That 
there  was  no  such  intention  as  to  marry  with  my  daughter  ;  it 
was  true  that  there  was  such  a  treaty  which  should  be  kept  on 
foot  till  your  return,  which  was  not  like  to  be  a  good  while, 
and  in  the  meantime  my  Lord  of  Cork  would  work  his  ends 
upon  my  Lord  Deputy,  and  for  yourself  (my  Lord  Dungarvan) 
that  upon  the  sight  of  my  daughter  you  should  say  you  never 
liked  a  woman  worse."  My  Lord,  I  am  confident  of  your 
nobleness  that  you  never  said  this,  but  my  Lord  of  Salisbury, 
who  is  not  so  well  acquainted  with  you,  and  his  niece  as  near 
to  him  in  affection  as  in  blood,  and  knowing  the  party  that 
told  us  this  to  be  so  worthy,  as  he  is  very  confident  these 
words  will  be  proved  to  Mr.  Goring,  but  he  spake  them  to  that 
other  gentleman.  ...  I  have  engaged  myself  very  deeply  to 
my  Lord,  how  I  think  nothing  can  be  further  from  your  own 
noble  heart  than  such  unworthy  thoughts  or  words,  for  I  hold 
you  to  be  a  more  brave  cavalier  than  so.' l 

Dungarvan  naturally  returned  a  vehement  protest,  of  which 
he  sent  a  copy  to  his  father  : — 

'  MY  NOBLE  LORD, — I  received  this  morning  your  letter 
which  you  sent  on  to  me  by  Mr.  Roberson  your  servant, 
wherein  I  conceive  there  are  some  exceptions  which  I  am 
both  in  honour  and  honesty  tied  to  satisfy.  The  first  is 

1  L.  P.,i\.  3.  187. 


254     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

that  I  should  speak  slightly  of  Mrs.  Clifford,  your  daughter, 
and  say  that  I  never  liked  a  woman  worse  in  all  my  life. 
This,  my  Lord,  I  protest  to  God  is  the  falsest  report  that 
ever  was  raised  of  any  man,  for  as  I  profest  myself  a  servant 
unto  her  since  I  first  had  the  honour  to  see  her,  so  I  do 
continue  constant  in  the  same  resolution,  and  in  my  opinion 
my  behaviour  at  court  is  a  sufficient  confirmation  of  it. 

'  The  second  is  that  we  meant  to  keep  this  proposition 
afoot  till  my  father  could  work  his  ends  upon  my  Lord 
Deputy.  My  Lord,  as  of  the  one  side  I  am  confident  my 
Lord  Deputy  will  no  way  oppress  my  father,  so  of  the  other 
I  am  certain  my  Lord  will  no  way  trouble  his  Lordship  with 
any  unjust  suits  or  demands,  and  therefore  I  shall  beseech 
your  Lordship  to  say  unto  my  Lord  of  Salisbury  that  my 
Lord  did  neither  at  first  entertain,  nor  doth  now  continue 
this  proposition  out  of  any  unworthy  respect.  What  may 
have  passed  from  my  brother  Goring  I  conceive  I  am  not 
answerable  for ;  this  much  I  may  perhaps  have  said  unto 
him,  as  I  have  done  to  the  King  and  others,  that  as  I  am  a 
free  man  from  anything  that  may  be  called  a  contract,  so  my 
resolution  is  not  to  marry  till  my  return  from  my  travels, 
and  that  your  Lordship  knows  always  to  have  been  my 
resolution. 

f  Now,  my  Lord,  that  I  have  thus  freely  and  ingenuously 
exprest  myself  to  give  satisfaction,  let  me  entreat  you  to 
answer  for  my  Father  and  myself  that  we  are  free  from  any 
mean  and  unworthy  thoughts,  and  for  myself  let  me  assure 
your  Lordship  you  shall  always  find  me  your  humble  servant, 

'  DUNGARVAN.'  l 

The  position  was  so  exceedingly  delicate  that  it  is  impos- 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  189. 


MY   LORD   DUNGARVAN  255 

sible  for  an  ordinary  mind  to  comprehend  in  what  relation 
Dungarvan  stood  to  Lady  Elizabeth,  and  his  letter  to  the 
young  lady  herself  is  equally  cautious  :— 

*  SWEET  MISTRESS,  —  The  honour  which  I  received  by  the 
admittance  into  your  service  hath  made  me  thus  ambitious  to 
express  the  happiness  which  by  your  company  I  enjoyed,  as 
now  I  do  lament  the  loss  of  it  by  my  necessary  stay  abroad 
during  my  travels.  Nothing  can  recompense  that  distance 
but  your  good  opinion  of  him  that  truly  serves  you  and 
undertakes  this  journey  to  make  himself  worthy  of  the  title 
which  he  desires  to  enjoy,  by  continuing,  Madame,  your 
Ladyship's  most  humble  and  affectionate  servant, 

'  DUNGARVAN. 

'LONDON  the  lyth  August,  1632.'  l 


Dungar  van's  gentlemanlike  letter  appears  to  have  satisfied 
both  the  heiress  and  Lord  Clifford,  but  the  young  man  must 
have  drawn  freer  breath  when  he  was  safe  in  Flanders,  out  of 
reach  of  kings,  brothers-in-law,  and  irate  parents  ! 

These  little  differences  of  opinion  between  the  principals 
and  their  parents,  however,  made  not  the  least  difference  to  the 
Lord  Deputy,  who  continued  unmoved  to  discuss  settlements 
and  dictate  '  articles  of  agreement.'  Lord  Clifford  had 
authorised  Wentworth  to  act  for  him,  and  Lord  Ranelagh 
usually  represented  the  Earl  of  Cork  at  the  debates  ;  for 
debates  there  soon  arose,  both  long  and  fierce.  The  agree- 
ment between  such  high  contracting  parties  was  not  likely  to 
be  concluded  in  a  hurry,  and  when  the  question  developed 
into  a  duel  between  Cork  and  Wentworth,  the  negotiations, 
the  meetings,  and  the  letters  became  elaborate  enough  to 
conclude  a  treaty  of  Utrecht  or  to  draft  a  Petition  of  Rights, 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  190. 


256     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

till  Laud  himself  warned  the  Deputy  that  he  was  accused  by 
many  of  demolishing  Lord  Cork's  tomb  in  St.  Patrick's  out 
of  revenge  for  the  difficulties  put  in  the  way  of  Mrs.  Clifford's 
marriage.1  There  really  seemed  danger  of  a  final  breach  when 
Lord  Clifford,  who  seems  always  to  have  been  a  peaceable, 
sensible  person,  suggested  that  Dungarvan  should  come  into 
England  to  talk  over  the  settlements  quietly. 

In  the  spring  of  1634  the  invitation  was  accepted,  and 
Garrard  in  his  gossiping  letters  mentions  that  my  Lord 
Dungarvan  was  often  at  Lord  Salisbury's,  and  very  hot  upon 
his  marriage  with  Mrs.  Clifford.  The  atmosphere  of  England 
was  less  electric  than  that  of  Dublin,  and  Dungarvan  and 
Lord  Clifford  found  little  difficulty  in  coming  to  an  agree- 
ment. Yet  still  the  lawyers  were  kept  hard  at  work,  and 
messengers  were  posting  between  Dublin  and  Cumberland 
and  Cork  ;  and  it  was  not  till  the  ist  of  July  1634  that 
Dungarvan  received  the  hand  of  his  mistress  in  the  chapel 
of  Skipton  Castle,  and  Sir  John  Leeke  carried  back  the  first 
dutiful  greeting  from  the  bride  to  her  father-in-law.  Dun- 
garvan was  twenty-two  and  Lady  Dungarvan  just  of  age. 

When  they  arrived,  two  months  later,  in  Dublin,  she  was 
received  with  great  affection  by  her  father-in-law,  who  pre- 
sented her  with  a  cupboard  of  gold  plate  that  glittered  on 
Lord  Falkland's  sideboard  when  he  was  Deputy,  and  had 
been  bought  by  Lord  Cork  for  £2.02. 

The  Earl  had  provided  a  house  in  Dublin  for  his  son,  but 
for  a  while  the  young  people  seem  to  have  stayed  with  him, 
and  it  was  to  Lord  Cork's  house  that  the  Deputy  came  to 
visit  his  niece  and  welcome  her  to  Ireland. 

Rich,  young,  feted  and  beloved,  Lady  Dungarvan  might 
seem  to  be  a  favourite  of  fortune,  and  yet  her  position  in  her 

1  Sir  afford  Letters,  i.  211. 


//    <"/  .  '~l  ir/KI  >-r/     f  '//•/•/  ^'/    (  '/•/•/•    />>!//  •  /)  II  >- 


/ 


MY   LORD   DUNG  ARYAN  257 

new  home  was  not  an  easy  one  to  fill.  Her  uncle  the 
Deputy  was  now  at  open  war  with  Lord  Cork,  and  as  he 
was  warmly  attached  to  his  niece,  meetings  between  the  war- 
ring dignitaries  were  inevitable,  and  the  decencies  of  social 
usages  could  not  prevent  skirmishes  from  taking  place  even 
in  my  Lady  Dungarvan's  parlour.  Dungarvan  naturally  sided 
with  his  father,  but  he  was  shrewd  enough  to  see  the  hopeless- 
ness of  a  contest  with  the  despotic  ruler  of  Ireland,  and  did  all 
he  could  to  moderate  the  old  man's  vehemence.  Lord  Clifford 
was  naturally  anxious  to  pour  oil  on  troubled  waters,  and  sent 
much  prudent  counsel  to  Lord  Dungarvan,  and  wrote  wise 
and  peaceable  letters  to  both  the  Earl  of  Cork  and  the  Deputy, 
which  letters  shared  the  usual  fate  of  unasked  advice  and  were 
civilly  neglected. 

Lady  Clifford  wrote  a  few  lines  of  thankfulness  to  Lord 
Cork  for  '  your  care  and  love  to  Bess,'  and  in  his  answer  he 
could  not  refrain  from  touching  on  the  troubles  that  were 
besetting  him.  It  may  be  noticed  that  the  quaint  fashion  of 
those  days  was  not  only  to  drink  to  the  health  of  a  friend, 
but  to  '  eat  to  the  noble  family.' 

Lord  Cork's  letter,  he  says,  is  intended  to  give  *  some 
acompt  of  our  daughter  and  myself;  'for  her  ladyship,  she 
looks,  and  likes  Ireland,  very  well,  and  every  day  more  than 
other  her  virtues  and  goodness  attract  unto  her  the  affections 
and  respect  of  the  best  sort  of  people,  and  from  her  husband, 
and  me  her  father-in-law,  most  of  all.  Now  the  Parliament 
is  adjourned,  we  intend,  God  willing,  to-morrow  morning  to 
begin  our  journey  towards  my  country  house  of  Lismore,  from 
whence  I  have  been  absent  almost  seven  years,  and  there,  God 
willing,  we  intend  to  keep  a  merry  Christmas  amongst  our 
neighbours,  and  to  eat  to  the  noble  family  at  Skipton  in  fat 
does  and  carps,  and  to  drink  your  health  in  the  best  wine  we 

R 


258     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

can  get,  hoping  at  the  spring  to  welcome  your  ladyship  and 
your  noble  lord  both  here  and  there,  and  the  sooner  ye  both 
come  the  more  shall  you  endear  you  unto  us.  In  the  mean- 
time I  can  only  not  without  some  resentment  let  your  ladyship 
know  that  for  a  pretended  business  of  thirty  years  old  I  am 
sharply  pursued  in  his  Majesty's  Court  of  Star  Chamber, 
wherein  neither  mediation  nor  letter  of  any  subject  can  work 
me  any  pacification.  God's  providence  which  never  failed 
me,  and  my  own  innocence,  only  must  deliver  me.  ...  I  wish 
this  attempt  had  been  made  upon  me  more  seasonably  than  at 
your  daughter  and  her  friends'  first  arrival.' 

Lismore  had  been  left  so  long  unvisited  by  its  lord,  that 
great  preparations  had  been  needed  for  this  Christmas  gather- 
ing. Lord  Dungarvan,  when  he  came  from  England,  had 
been  commissioned  to  bring  new  furniture  and  linen,  all  of 
which  was  methodically  entered  in  Lord  Cork's  book  of  plate 
and  household  stuff.  Two  pair  of  large  sheets  and  four 
'pillow  beers'  cost  the  astonishing  sum  of  ^32,  45.,  and  the 
bedstead  and  chairs  for  the  chamber  of  the  guest,  Lord 
Strange,  were  newly  decorated  with  scarlet  cloth  and  silver 
lace. 

The  journey  to  Munster  was  an  adventurous  one,  for  in 
the  Four-mile  Water,  between  Clonmel  and  Lismore,  the 
coach  was  overthrown,  and  not  only  were  the  horses  in  danger 
of  drowning,  but  the  youngest  of  the  party,  little  Robin 
Boyle,  was  rescued  with  difficulty  by  one  of  the  mounted 
servants.  However,  no  lives  were  lost,  the  coach  and  horses 
were  extricated,  and  the  whole  party  arrived  safe  at  Lismore, 
after  a  progress  that  had  taken  four  days  and  cost  twenty-four 
pounds. 

Sir  Randall  and  Lady  Clayton  came  from  Cork  to  join  in 
the  festivities,  bringing  with  them  the  Earl's  two  youngest 


MY   LORD   DUNG  ARYAN  259 

daughters,  Mary  and  the  baby  Peggy.  Christmas  Day  was 
spent  at  Lismore,  but  the  New  Year  was  welcomed  in  at 
Castle  Lyons,  where  Lord  Barrymore  '  feasted  the  family  for 
two  days.'  Lord  Cork,  as  usual,  wrote  in  his  diary  a  list  of 
the  New  Year's  presents  :  he  gave  '  to  my  daughter  Barry- 
more  her  mother's  purple  cut  velvet  gown  with  those  things 
that  belongeth  thereto,  to  wear  for  her  good  mother's  sake.' 
Sir  Randall  Clayton  had  brought  with  him  to  Lismore  a  large 
fair  pearl  that  had  been  found  in  Bandon  River  by  a  poor 
woman  who  had  sold  it  in  Cork  for  two  and  fourpence  in 
beer  and  tobacco.  The  buyer  bartered  it  for  two  cows  ;  it 
was  next  sold  to  a  merchant  for  twelve  pounds,  and  the  Earl's 
goldsmith  cousin,  Mr.  Bardsley  or  Barsie,  who  was  now  living 
in  Bandon,  counselled  Sir  Randall  to  buy  it  for  the  Earl  for 
thirty  pounds.  Lord  Cork  agreed  to  take  it,  and  presented 
it  to  Lady  Dungarvan  for  a  New  Year's  gift,  and  soon  after 
gave  her  twenty-five  more  large  Bandon  pearls,  and  about  a 
hundred  and  fifteen  little  ones,  paying  Mr.  Bardsley  thirty-five 
pounds  for  the  set.  It  is  curious  to  think  of  green  Ireland 
being  chiefly  famed  for  its  gold  and  pearls  ;  but  records  come 
of  pearls  found  in  almost  every  stream,  the  Dingle  pearls 
being  especially  famed  for  their  beauty. 

It  may  be  hoped  that  Lady  Dungarvan  proved  the  truth 
of  the  old  proverb,  and  was  lucky  in  love.  She  certainly  was 
very  unlucky  at  cards,  and  Lord  Cork  had  to  go  into  partner- 
ship with  her  that  Christmas  to  save  her  from  bankruptcy. 
He  notes  the  terms  of  their  agreement  with  due  seriousness  : 
*  My  daughter  Dungarvan  having  this  Christmas  lost  ^40  at 
play  and  being  drained  of  money,  I  supplied  her  with  twenty 
pieces,  and  she  to  play  them,  and  if  she  lost  them,  she  to  add 
other  twenty  pieces  of  her  own,  and  the  loss  again  to  be 
equally  divided  till  more  be  gotten,  or  that  lost  by  her  at  play.' 


260    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

The  heiress  was  in  no  ways  a  very  economical  lady,  and 
Dungarvan  did  not  set  her  an  example  of  thrift.  It  was  not 
long  before  his  father  had  to  pay  a  tailor's  bill  for  him  that 
amounted  to  ^1000  for  two  years'  dress.  His  allowance 
from  his  father  seems  to  have  been  ,£1500,  not  a  very  large 
amount  considering  the  society  in  which  he  moved ;  but  there 
is  no  mention  of  what  fortune  Lady  Dungarvan  brought  with 
her,  which  may  have  increased  their  income  considerably. 
But  in  1635  Lord  Cork  had  once  again  to  have  a  serious 
settlement  of  accounts  with  his  son,  and  once  again  paid  ^800 
of  debts,  and  lent  him  ^3000  to  be  repaid  as  a  portion  to  his 
little  sister  Margaret  when  she  married. 

Soon  after,  Lord  Cork  turned  his  thoughts  to  the  final 
division  of  his  lands,  settling  a  due  portion  of  his  estates  upon 
each  of  his  sons.  Unfortunately  he  could  not  do  this  without 
reopening  all  the  burning  questions  that  had  almost  wrecked 
Dungarvan's  hopes  of  marriage.  The  Earl  very  naturally 
wished  the  most  important  part  of  his  property  to  go  with 
his  title,  and  therefore  entailed  it  strictly  upon  male  heirs, 
first  to  his  sons,  then  nephews  and  other  heirs-male  of  his 
father,  and  only  failing  any  male  representatives  of  the  Boyles 
would  Lord  Dungarvan's  daughters  have  a  claim.1 

The  Deputy,  who  looked  on  Lady  Dungarvan's  affairs  as  his 
own,  interfered  in  a  very  peremptory  manner,  being  resolved 
that  the  daughters  of  the  Clifford  heiress  should  have  as  fair 
an  inheritance  as  their  mother  had  had.  So  the  next  day 
Lord  Ranelagh  and  Chief  Justice  Lowther  were  hurried  off  by 
Lord  Cork  to  discover  '  how  to  give  content  to  the  displeased 
Lord  Deputy  and  his  great  favourite  Sir  George  Ratcliffe ' ; 
and  not  till  there  had  been  many  meetings  and  endless  debates 
did  the  Deputy  consent  that  the  lands  should  pass  to  male 

1  See  Appendix  II.,  Septpartite  Indenture. 


MY   LORD   DUNG  ARYAN  261 

heirs,  on  condition  that  if  Dungarvan  died  without  leaving  a 
son,  his  eldest  daughter  should  have  ten  thousand  pounds 
and  the  younger  ones  five  thousand  each,  with  a  hundred  a 
year  for  maintenance  during  minority. 

Dungarvan's  eldest  daughter,  'little  Frank,'  was  born  in 
Lord  Cork's  house  in  Dublin  in  1636,  and  when  three 
months  old  was  established  with  her  nurse  and  three  women 
servants  in  her  own  house  at  Trim.  The  second  daughter 
was  born  in  England  in  October  1637,  and  christened  by  the 
curious  name  of  Catherine  Verge,  which  can  only  be  inter- 
preted as  '  Catherine  Virgin  and  Martyr.'  Possibly  the  baby 
was  not  expected  to  support  the  whole  title,  but  the  note  was 
put  in  the  grandfather's  diary  to  remind  him  the  name  was  not 
borrowed  from  his  dear  dead  wife  or  Katharine  Jones,  but,  as 
was  fitting  in  the  days  of  Laud,  was  that  of  a  real  saint  whose 
name  was  set  in  the  Church  calendar. 

Little  Catherine  died  two  years  after  at  Lord  Salisbury's 
house  in  London,  but  Frank  grew  up  and  eventually  was 
married  to  the  Earl  of  Roscommon.  But  she  did  not  inherit 
the  ten  thousand  pounds  after  all,  for  an  heir  to  the  united 
glories  of  Boyle  and  Clifford  was  born  at  the  Savoy  in 
November  1639.  His  proud  grandfather  'bestowed  a  hundred 
pounds  on  the  christening  banquet,  to  which  the  Queen  and 
great  ladies  of  the  court  came.'  The  ceremony  of  baptism 
was  performed  in  the  chapel  of  the  Savoy,  '  the  King's 
Majesty  having  promised  to  be  present,  and  honoured  the 
child  with  his  name  of  Charles.' 


CHAPTER    XVI 

THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL 
1633—1638 

*  The  toad  beneath  the  harrow  knows 
Exactly  where  each  tooth-point  goes. 
The  butterfly  upon  the  road 
Preaches  contentment  to  the  toad.' 

KIPLING. 

IT  has  been  said  that  the  greatest  of  tragedies  is  a  quarrel  in 
which  both  sides  are  right.  Cork  and  Wentworth  had  each 
good  reason  to  believe  his  own  side  to  be  right,  only  their 
standards  and  ideals  of  right  were  so  completely  different  that 
neither  could  do  the  other  justice. 

Cork  honestly  believed  himself  to  be  a  pillar  of  the  Church 
in  Ireland.  His  services  to  it  were  notorious,  and  his  praise 
was  in  the  mouth  of  both  archbishops.  Wentworth  and  Laud 
held  him  to  be  a  robber  of  churches,  an  oppressor  of  the 
clergy,  and  more  or  less  of  a  hypocrite. 

Bishop  Bramhall  was  sent  over  by  Laud  to  assist  the  new 
Deputy  in  putting  the  Irish  Church  to  rights,  and  was  not 
long  in  calling  Wentworth's  attention  to  the  large  number  of 
Church  leases  and  livings  that  had  come  into  the  Earl  of  Cork's 
hands.  Wentworth  eagerly  took  up  the  matter,  and  he  and 
Laud  were  never  weary  of  elaborating  jokes  on  the  drastic 
treatment  they  were  preparing  for  the  Earl  of  Cork.  The 
Archbishop  wrote  in  1633  to  the  Deputy  : — 


262 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    263 

'  MY  LORD, — I  did  not  take  you  to  be  so  good  a  physician 
before,  as  I  see  you  are  :  for  the  truth  is,  a  great  many  church 
cormorants  have  fed  so  full  on  it  that  they  have  fallen  into  a 
fever,  and  for  that  no  physic  better  than  a  vomit,  so  it  be 
given  in  time  ;  and  therefore  you  have  taken  a  very  judicious 
course  to  administer  one  so  easily  to  my  Lord  of  Cork.  Go 
on,  my  Lord,  I  must  needs  say  this  is  thorough  indeed.  .  .  . 

'  Now  for  your  question,  what  my  Lord  of  Cork  will  say  ? 
I  cannot  tell  :  but  sure  I  am  so  many  of  the  Fraternity  as 
think  it  Popery  to  set  the  communion  table  at  the  end  of  the 
chancel  and  for  the  Prebends  to  come  in  their  formalities l  to 
church  are  either  ignorant  or  factious  fools.  But  I  warrant 
you  the  poor  Vicar  thinks  very  well  of  you,  and  so  doth  the 
King,  to  whom  I  have  told  what  physic  you  have  given  the 
Earl  of  Cork.' 

It  may  be  remarked,  in  passing,  that  it  is  little  wonder 
that  the  old-fashioned  churchmen,  whom  Laud  contemptu- 
ously called  a  fraternity  of  Puritans,  were  startled  at  some  of 
the  innovations  introduced  by  the  new  Church  rulers  in  Ire- 
land, for  Lord  Cork  wrote  in  his  diary  for  May  1635  :  'This 
day  being  Whitsunday,  in  Christchurch,  the  Dean  thereof 
administered  the  Sacrament  to  the  Lord  Deputy.  The  Dean 
kneeling  down  on  his  knees  all  the  time  he  was  speaking  the 
words  both  at  the  delivery  first  of  the  sacramental  bread,  so 
likewise  of  the  wine.' 2 

The  Archbishop  and  the  Deputy  might  jest  over  their 
onslaught  on  the  Earl  of  Cork's  Church  lands,  but  they  soon 
found  he  was  no  easy  man  to  deal  with.  He  fought  tena- 

1  Official  dress. 

2  In  the  following  century  we  are  told  that  the  nonjuring  Bishop  Cartwright  was 
accustomed  to  administer  the  Sacrament  standing  on  the  Lord's  Day,  but  on  week- 
days kneeling. — 'the  Nonjurors,  Overton,  p.  366. 


264     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

ciously  over  every  separate  item,  so  that  the  ownership  of 
starveling  vicarages,  and  tithes  worth  but  a  few  pence,  absorbed 
an  amount  of  time  and  attention  that  would  have  been  pre- 
posterous except  for  the  principles  involved.  The  reader  need 
not  be  wearied  with  more  than  a  couple  of  examples  of  the 
petty  matters,  which  the  Deputy  thought  worth  contesting  if 
they  enabled  him  to  score  a  point  against  Cork,  and  which 
the  Deputy's  enemies  thought  worth  raking  up  when  the  day 
of  retribution  came  and  StrafFord  was  brought  to  trial  in 
Westminster  Hall. 

One  of  the  most  fiercely  contested  of  these  cases  was  that 
of  one  Arthur  Gwyn,  who  had  been  presented  by  the  Deputy 
to  three  lapsed  livings  belonging  to  the  Earl  of  Cork, 
Ardfynnan,  Rathronan,  and  Mortelstown,  in  Tipperary.  At 
Strafford's  trial  Pym  described  this  nominee  of  the  Deputy's 
as  'Arthur  Gwyn,  who  about  1634  was  an  undergroom  to  the 
Earl  of  Cork  in  his  stable :  in  the  year  after,  Dr.  Bramhall 
preferred  him  to  be  a  clergyman,  and  a  parsonage  and  two 
vicarages  impropriate  were  taken  from  my  Lord  Cork  and 
given  to  this  Arthur  Gwyn  !  I  shall  add  no  more  patterns  of 
the  clergy,'  concluded  Pym  scornfully. 

In  1635  the  Earl  had  written  in  his  diary  that  Arthur  Gwyn 
who  pretended  by  grant  from  the  King  to  be  vicar  of  his 
impropriate  vicarage,  '  preferred  a  forged  invention  and  most 
slanderous  false  petition  against  me  to  the  Lord  Deputy.' 
The  Deputy  and  Council  had  then  ordered  that  Gwyn  should 
have  possession  and  Cork  should  recover  his  rights,  if  he  had 
any,  by  law  ;  Gwyn  giving  his  bond  ('  which,'  Lord  Cork 
adds,  '  is  nothing  worth ')  that  he  would  pay  the  damages  if 
the  judge  gave  the  case  against  him.  At  the  Strafford  trial, 
Cork  related  that  he  had  duly  proceeded  to  endeavour  to 
recover  his  vicarage  by  course  of  law,  but  the  Deputy  had 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    265 

threatened  if  he  did  not  call  in  his  writs  he  would  clap  him 
into  Castle  Chamber.  '  I  will  not,'  said  he,  *  have  my  orders 
disputed  by  law  or  lawyers.'  The  case  finally  was  fought  out 
between  Gwyn  and  a  tenant  to  whom  Cork  had  leased  the 
vicarage,  from  whom  Gwyn  recovered  it  and  to  whom  the 
Earl  immediately  made  a  new  lease  of  it ! 

When  Strafford  was  asked  about  the  case,  he  could  at  first 
remember  nothing  of  it ;  but  then,  recollecting  himself,  he  said 
the  rectory  recovered  to  the  Church  from  the  Earl  of  Cork 
was  of  so  small  and  trivial  value,  that  they  knew  not  who  to 
get  to  serve  the  cure,  and  on  that  occasion  the  man  (Gwyn) 
was  recommended.  '  I  think,'  he  concluded  carelessly,  '  thirty 
pounds  a  year  shall  go  far  in  his  preferment.'  As  for  the 
interference  with  the  Earl  of  Cork's  writs,  the  Deputy  had 
done  it  because  it  was  the  King's  command  that  all  questions 
of  Church  titles  should  be  reserved  for  the  decision  of  the 
Council  and  not  heard  before  the  law-courts.1 

The  case  of  yet  another  wretched  vicar  was  brought  up  at 
Straffbrd's  trial.  The  poor  man  had  fallen  into  debt  and  was 
imprisoned,  '  and  the  prison  being  very  loathsome,'  the  Bishop 
had  written  to  beg  the  patron  of  the  living,  the  Earl  of  Cork, 
to  permit  him  to  raise  money  by  leasing  the  glebe  lands  to  a 
tenant.  Cork  said  he  foresaw  there  would  be  trouble  about 
such  a  lease,  and  refused  to  have  anything  to  say  to  it,  till  '  the 
vicar's  wife,  poor  woman,  persuaded  him  to  it,  as  an  act  of 
charity.'  When  Wentworth  came  over  as  Deputy,  he  pounced 
upon  this  lease,  and  had  a  bill  preferred  against  Lord  Cork  in 
Star  Chamber  (surely  a  slip  of  the  reporter  for  Castle  Chamber?) 
accusing  Lord  Cork  of  having  broken  an  Act  enjoining  that  no 
lease  of  glebe  should  be  for  longer  than  the  acting  incumbent's 
life.  Cork  protested  that  he  had  never  heard  of  such  an  Act, 

1  Rushworth,  Strafford  Trial,  123  ;  also  Smith,  i.  60. 


266     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

and  he  was  certain  it  had  never  been  published ;  to  which  the 
Deputy  rejoined  that  Acts  made  by  his  Government  should  be 
as  binding  as  Acts  passed  and  published  by  Parliament ! 

The  few  pounds  recovered  for  the  Church  by  these 
measures  of  the  Deputy's  can  hardly  have  been  worth  the 
bitterness  of  feeling  they  excited,  and  he  had  but  little  better 
success  in  restoring  the  Church  buildings  in  Ireland,  than  in 
assisting  the  clergy  who  served  in  them.  Possibly  the  venera- 
tion cherished  for  the  sites  of  shrines,  destroyed  many  hundred 
years  before  by  the  Vikings,  made  the  sight  of  '  bare  ruined 
choirs '  less  shocking  to  Anglo-Irish  eyes  than  they  were  to 
such  newcomers  as  Wentworth  and  Bramhall ;  certain  it  is, 
that  many  of  the  finest  Irish  churches  were  in  ruins  then,  and 
in  spite  of  Wentworth's  zeal  remain  neglected  ruins  to-day. 

Archbishop  Laud  was  especially  shocked  by  the  reports 
that  reached  him  of  the  condition  of  Lismore  Cathedral.  It 
appears  that  the  building  had  been  so  completely  wrecked 
during  the  Desmond  wars  that  Lord  Cork  had  long  hesitated 
to  undertake  any  work  of  restoration.  However,  in  1623  he 
had  paid  ^23,  193.  2d.  for  wainscoting  the  part  of  the  church 
that  was  still  standing,  and  £  1 7  for  making  a  pulpit  and  other 
carved  work,  and  breaking  down  the  wall  for  windows.  In 
1627  he  writes,  at  Lismore  '  the  charge  of  my  chapel  did  cost 
me  ^117,  148.,  and  this  day  I  paid  Catts  the  painter  ^30 
more  for  his  work,  besides  stuff,'  that  is,  building  materials. 
Then  in  January  1634  the  Earl  made  larger  plans  and  wrote, 
*  God  bless  my  good  intentions  and  endeavours  in  this  work. 
This  day  I  resolved  with  the  assistance  of  my  good  God  to 
reedify  the  ancient  cathedral  church  of  Lismore,  which  was 
demolished  by  Edmund  Fitzgibbon,  called  the  White  Knight, 
and  other  traitors  in  the  late  rebellion.  The  chancel  of  which 
church  I  did  at  my  own  charge  rebuild,  ^217,  143.  9d.,  and 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    267 

put  a  new  roof  covered  with  slates,  and  plastered  and  glazed, 
furnishing  it  with  ceiled  pews  and  pulpit,  and  have  given 
orders  to  have  the  ruins  of  the  body  and  aisles  of  that  church 
cleared  and  the  same  new  built  fair  or  fairer  than  ever  it  was 
before.' 

But  the  agitating  years  of  Wentworth's  rule  left  the  old 
Earl  small  leisure  to  plan  the  restoration  of  churches,  and  it 
seems  that  little  or  nothing  was  done  to  carry  out  this  pious 
intention  ;  for  Laud  wrote  to  StrafFord,  '  As  for  the  building 
of  the  church  at  Lismore  I  will  believe  it  when  I  see  it.  Yet 
this  I  must  say,  none  so  fit  to  build  a  new  one  by  repentance 
as  he  that  pulled  down  the  old  by  sacrilege.'  It  was  enough 
for  Laud  that  Lismore  belonged  to  Cork,  for  no  mischief 
could  happen  in  Munster  but  Cork  was  to  be  considered 
guilty  of  it.  At  any  rate,  he  had  neither  time  nor  patience  to 
waste  in  measuring  out  praise  and  blame  when  crying  evils 
were  waiting  for  reformation,  and  the  Bishop  of  Waterford 
and  Dean  and  Chapter  of  Lismore,  with  all  the  authority 
gained  by  the  support  of  the  Archbishop,  made  no  suggestion 
or  request,  but  '  ordered '  that  the  ruins  should  be  cleared 
away  by  the  Earl  of  Cork  and  a  new  church  built  in  their 
place.  Some  preparations  were  made  in  answer  to  this  com- 
mand, for  the  Earl  noted  in  his  diary  for  April  1638  that 
he  had  that  day  begun  pulling  down  the  ruins  'with  a  godly 
resolution  to  rebuild  the  cathedral  church  and  mansions  for 
the  vicars  choral,'  and  in  1640  certain  money  coming  from  the 
manufacture  of  scythes  was  set  aside  for  roofing  Lismore  Church. 

It  is  very  probable  that  Lord  Cork  hesitated  over  spending 
money  at  Lismore,  because  just  then  there  arose  a  possibility 
that  Lismore  might  not  long  be  his  own.  The  chief  instru- 
ment in  this  assault  was  a  kinsman  of  his  own,  Michael  Boyle, 
Bishop  of  Waterford.  He  and  his  brother  Richard  Boyle, 


268     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

Bishop  of  Cork,  were  sons  of  the  merchant  Michael  Boyle  of 
London,  and  owed  their  preferments  in  Ireland  to  their  cousin 
the  Earl  of  Cork,  who  afterwards  wrote  bitterly  enough  of  his 
*  unthankful  kinsmen,'  and  when  he  stood  godfather  to  Bishop 
Richard  Boyle's  son,  he  did  so  '  praying  he  might  be  a  better 
man  than  his  father.'  Laud  liked  the  Boyle  bishops  as  little 
as  did  their  cousin  the  Earl,  and  as  Michael  of  Waterford 
unluckily  came  from  Laud's  own  college,  St.  John's,  Oxford, 
the  Deputy,  who  was  a  Cambridge  Johnian,  was  delighted  to 
have  such  an  excellent  joke  against  the  Archbishop,  and  tor- 
mented him  with  hits  at  St.  John's,  Oxford,  in  season  and  out 
of  season,  till  Laud  grew  absolutely  incoherent  in  his  vehement 
endeavours  to  defend  his  beloved  college. 

This  little -loved  Bishop  Michael  Boyle  held  the  See  of 
Lismore  joined  with  that  of  Waterford,  and  Bramhall  reported 
to  Laud  that  the  Lismore  portion  of  the  revenue  was  farmed 
by  the  Earl  of  Cork,  who  only  paid  forty  shillings  a  year  to 
the  Bishop.1 

When  the  Desmond  wars  had  left  Lismore  a  heap  of 
ruins,  Ralegh  obtained  a  lease  of  it  from  the  Bishop  of 
Waterford  at  a  nominal  rent,  and  it  was  sold  with  Ralegh's 
other  Irish  possessions  to  Boyle.2  In  1607,  Lord  Deputy 
Chichester  issued  a  warrant  for  a  pardon  to  Boyle  for  all 
alienations  wherewith  the  manor  of  Lismore  might  be  charge- 
able, and  a  release  and  confirmation  to  him  of  all  his  lands, 
pursuant  to  his  Majesty's  letters,  dated  Hampton  Court, 
1603.  But  when  a  new  Bishop  came  to  the  See  he  was 
naturally  indignant  at  finding  the  church  property  alienated, 
and  as  Ralegh  was  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  Boyle,  who 
had  merely  bought  Ralegh's  rights,  was,  in  spite  of  this 
pardon,  brought  to  book.  The  validity  of  Ralegh's  lease  and 

1  Don.  S.  P.  Charles  /.,  ccxliv.  48.  2  See  Appendix  I. 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    269 

sale  were  debated  in  the  Irish  Parliament  in  1614,  when  the 
Bishop  of  Waterford's  claims  were,  according  to  Lord  Cork's 
diary,  '  by  general  clamour  and  consent  cast  out  of  the  house.' 
When  the  Ralegh  grants  were  confirmed  to  Cork  in  1629,  the 
Lismore  Church  leases  were  included  with  the  rest.  Cork 
therefore  held  Lismore  by  purchase,  by  a  grant  from  King 
James  in  1603,  a  parliamentary  decision  in  1614,  and  a  fresh 
grant  sealed  by  the  great  seal  of  Charles  the  First  in  1629. 
Yet  all  these  documents  were  ignored  by  the  Deputy  and 
Archbishop  ! 

Unfortunately  for  Lord  Cork,  Laud,  as  has  been  said, 
found  an  instrument  ready  to  his  hand.  The  very  failings 
of  the  Bishop  of  Waterford  made  him  now  valuable,  for  the 
Archbishop  knew  that  the  mean  and  grasping  Michael  Boyle 
would  be  too  eager  to  increase  his  own  income  to  feel  any 
compunction  at  moving  against  his  generous  kinsman  the  Earl 
of  Cork. 

Laud  wrote  of  him  with  contemptuous  satisfaction  : — 
'  I  have  known  the  Bishop  of  Waterford  long,  and  when 
he  lived  in  the  college  he  would  have  done  anything  or  sold 
any  man  for  sixpence  profit.  It  seems  he  carried  the  same 
mind  with  him  to  Ireland,  by  which  means  Lismore  and 
Youghal  have  fared  never  the  better  by  him.  But  since 
Lismore  was  in  huxter's  handling  before  he  came  to  Water- 
ford,  it  may  be,  if  he  be  handsomely  wrought  upon,  he  will 
be  brought  to  petition  me  about  it,  which  will  be  an  excellent 
ground  for  us  both  to  work  upon.  The  Bishop  of  Waterford 
was  ever  full  of  jests,  and  would  at  any  time  rather  lose  a 
friend  than  spare  it,  and  therefore  it  is  no  wonder  if  he 
spare  not  the  Earl  his  kinsman.  But  a  passing  good  jest  it 
was  that  he  brake  upon  him,  and  as  like  him  as  could  be. 
I  could  find  it  in  heart  to  forgive  him  some  errors  if  he  would 


270    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

petition  me  about  Lismore  :  but  'tis  so  easy  a  thing  for  the 
Earl  to  keep  him  from  it,  that  I  shall  not  believe  he  will  do  it 
till  it  be  done,  for  if  the  Earl  will  feed  him  with  a  little  money, 
farewell  Lismore  and  the  petition  too.  .  .  .' 

*  I  am  sorry  to  speak  it,'  wrote  the  Deputy  to  the  Arch- 
bishop, '  but  truth  will  out,  the  Bishop  is  a  St.  John's  man,  of 
Oxford  I  mean,  not  Cambridge — our  Cambridge  panniers 
never  brought  such  a  fairing  to  market.' 

'A  St.  John's  man  you  say  he  is,  and  of  Oxford,'  cried 
Laud,  *  and  "  your  Cambridge  panniers  never  brought  such  a 
fairing  to  market "  !  Yes,  my  good  Lord,  but  it  hath  !  for 
what  say  you  of  Dean  Palmer  ?  who,  beside  his  other  virtues, 
sold  all  the  lead  off  his  church  at  Peterborough,  yet  he  was 
brought  in  your  Cambridge  panniers !  I  pray  you  examine 
your  Cambridge  panniers  again  ! ' 

The  Bishop  of  Waterford  fulfilled  the  hopes  of  Laud,  but 
the  case  was  referred  to  arbitration  and  never  came  to  open 
trial.  Bishop  Bramhall  and  Cork's  friend  and  kinsman  Sir 
William  Parsons  gave  their  decision  in  March  1638,  when 
Cork  was  obliged  to  pay  down  ^500  in  gold,  in  return  for 
which  the  Bishop,  Dean,  and  Chapter  signed  a  release  for 
Lismore,  Bewly,  and  Kilmolish,  and  made  a  sixty  years'  lease 
of  Kilbree  and  Affane  at  £  1 2  rent. 

But  the  recovery  of  certain  Lismore  and  Ardmore  leases 
did  not  exhaust  the  serviceableness  of  the  Bishop  of  Water- 
ford.  The  Bishop  also  held  the  sinecure  position  of  Warden 
of  Youghal  College,  and  as  such  received  a  twentieth  part  of 
its  revenue.  If  he  could  be  induced  to  disavow  the  agree- 
ment entered  into  by  the  Earl  of  Cork  when  he  obtained  new 
letters  patent,  and  doubled  the  stipends  of  the  warden  and 
fellows,  there  would  be  no  choice  but  to  condemn  the  great 
Earl  for  fraud  ! 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL  271 

The  news  of  this  tremendous  charge  against  the  Earl  of 
Cork  was  naturally  a  shock  to  all  his  friends.  It  was  bad 
enough  that  the  grave  and  reverend  seignor  should  be  charged 
with  fraud  ;  but  further,  if  the  'omnipotent  Deputy'  gained 
the  case  and  confiscated  all  the  Youghal  estates  that  Cork  had 
bought  from  Ralegh  and  Carew,  the  old  man  would  be  half 
ruined.  He  was  already  hard  enough  hit  by  the  subsidies  that 
had  been  laid  on  him,  and  the  large  settlement  Wentworth 
had  obliged  him  to  make  on  his  own  niece,  Dungarvan's 
bride. 

Lord  Clifford,  the  father  of  young  Lady  Dungarvan, 
endeavoured  to  persuade  Lord  Cork,  and  himself,  that  the 
Deputy  was  really  a  most  benevolent  person,  who  would  '  do 
nothing  in  your  contrary  but  very  unwillingly  and  upon  con- 
straint.' His  warm-hearted  lady  did  not  pick  her  words  so 
carefully,  and  gave  full  sympathy  to  the  father-in-law  who 
was  so  good  to  her  Bess.  She  wrote  in  December  1635, 
regretting  that  she  could  do  so  little  : — 

'  I  cannot  tell  what  to  think  truly,  but  do  plainly  wish 
your  Lordship  might  have  your  desire,  and  if  I  were  with  my 
Lord  Deputy  I  should  say  so  much  to  him,  and  do  mean  yet, 
if  I  may  have  the  least  word  from  your  Lordship,  to  try  my 
Lord  Deputy  in  three  or  four  lines,  if  I  may  do  you  service 
at  all.' l 

The  curious  part  of  the  matter  is  that  Wentworth  wrote 
to  Laud,  from  whom  he  had  no  secrets,  that  he  never  in  all 
his  life  undertook  any  business  so  much  against  his  private 
affections,  and  were  it  possible  to  conceal  this  business  and 
yet  preserve  those  duties  he  owed  to  God,  and  the  faith  and 
integrity  which  he  must  exercise  towards  his  master,  he  would 
gladly  have  done  so.2  Perhaps  Lady  Clifford's  '  few  lines ' 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  236.  2  Strafford  Letters,  i.  459. 


272     LIFE  OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

had  their  effect  in  producing  such  an  unusual  display  of 
soft-heartedness  from  Wentworth,  or  possibly  Lord  and 
Lady  Dungarvan  had  been  doing  what  they  could  to  soften 
him.  But  what  Lord  Clifford  did  not  know,  and  Cork  did 
not  know,  was  the  true  reason  for  the  Deputy's  attack  on 
Youghal.  It  comes  out  plainly  in  Wentworth's  letter  to 
his  royal  master,  May  1634  : l— 

*  In  that  other  great  business  concerning  the  Earl  of  Cork, 
I  have  clearly  set  forth  the  state  thereof  in  my  letter  to  my 
Lord's  Grace  of  Canterbury,  only  I  shall  crave  leave  with  some 
assurance  to  deliver  my  opinion  to  your  Majesty,  that  if  in 
your  wisdom  you  shall  think  it  good  to  entrust  it  with  me, 
I  rest  most  confident  out  of  his  fine  to  discharge  one-half 
of  the  debts  which  press  so  heavily  upon  this  crown,  and 
that  with  all  honour  and  justice,  without  straining  only  one 
point  further  than  the  merits  of  the  cause  will  carry  it ; 
but  then  I  must  crave  your  Majesty  would  ground  a  full 
resolution  not  to  take  it  out  of  the  hands  of  your  justice 
for  any  solicitation  of  himself  or  friends,  which  doubtless, 
when  he  findeth  himself  pinched,  will  be  very  importunate 
and  instant.' 

This  letter  makes  credible  Cork's  report  of  a  conversation 
he  had  with  the  Deputy  at  the  end  of  the  struggle,  which 
otherwise  we  should  have  been  tempted  to  believe  was  a  cob- 
web spun  out  of  an  angry  old  man's  brain.  '  I  prayed  him  to 
consider,'  says  Cork,  f  whether  in  justice  he  could  impose  so 
great  a  fine  upon  me.  Whereunto  he  replied,  "  God's 
wounds,  Sir  !  When  the  last  parliament  in  England  brake 
up,  you  lent  the  King  fifteen  thousand  pounds,  and  afterwards 
in  a  very  uncivil,  unmannerly  manner  you  pressed  his  Majesty 
to  repay  it  you.  Whereupon  I  resolved,  before  I  came  out 

1  Straff  or d  Letters,  \.  257. 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    273 

of  England,  to  fetch  it  back  again  from  you,  by  one  means  or 
other.  And  now  I  have  gotten  what  I  desired,  you  and  I  will 
be  friends  hereafter."  ' l 

Wentworth  was  nothing  if  not  plain-spoken.  He  was 
indeed  too  proud  to  deceive  others,  and  too  clear-sighted  to 
deceive  himself.  Laud  might  desire  to  enrich  the  Church, 
Charles  might  even  persuade  himself  that  Cork  deserved 
punishment  for  sacrilege  ;  Wentworth's  one  object  was  to 
serve  the  King.  The  tithes  and  the  presentations  to  some  few 
livings,  a  small  matter  of  some  six  or  seven  hundred  a  year, 
which  he  wrested  from  Cork,  certainly  did  go  to  enrich  the 
Church,  but  a  string  of  parsonages,  rectories,  and  churches, 
settled  on  Dungarvan,  were  untouched  ;  the  College  House  at 
Youghal,  whose  ownership  has  blackened  Cork's  name  with 
the  ban  of  sacrilege  for  two  centuries,  having  been  settled  on 
the  Deputy's  niece  as  a  dower-house,  was  never  restored  to  the 
Church,  and  the  vast  fines  with  which  Cork  bought  his  estates 
a  second  time  over  went  to  fill  the  royal  purse,  not  to  feed 
the  starving  clergy. 

It  was  fortunate  for  Lord  Cork  that  he  had  all  the  College 
deeds  in  his  own  hands,  and  was  able  to  deposit  before  the 
court  the  original  founder's  deed  given  by  the  Earl  of  Des- 
mond in  1464,  and  bulls  from  many  Popes  to  the  Chapter, 
as  well  as  the  royal  grants,  and  the  agreement  as  to  the  lease 
entered  into  by  the  Bishop  of  Cork  and  the  Warden  and 
Collegioners  of  Youghal  on  the  one  hand,  and  Sir  Richard 
Boyle  and  Sir  Laurence  Parsons  on  the  other,  in  1605. 
Many  of  the  deeds,  Lord  Cork  relates,  were  so  old  as  to  be 
almost  rent  in  two. 

The  Attorney-General's  first  bill  charged  the  Earl  of  Cork 
with  obtaining  Church  lands  and  tithes  by  unlawful  oaths  and 

i  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  257. 

s 


274     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

other  inducements,  with  keeping  men  of  straw  as  fellows  of 
the  College  at  Youghal,  and  sometimes  even  failing  to  fill  up 
vacant  fellowships  ;  he  was  further  charged  with  having  kept 
and  used  the  College  seal  for  his  own  ends  and  refused  to 
return  it  to  the  fellows,  and  virtually  of  having  himself  sealed 
the  transfer  of  the  College  to  himself !  Later  on  another 
charge  was  added,  as  Laud  doubted  whether  any  lease  of  the 
College  to  a  layman  could  be  valid.  So  far  as  the  College 
seal  was  in  question,  it  does  not  seem  surprising  that  when  the 
College  documents  and  deeds  were  left  with  the  Earl,  he 
should  also  have  had  the  seal.  He  replied  to  this  charge  that 
at  the  time  the  fellows  asked  him  for  it  he  was  at  some 
distance  from  home,  and  did  not  choose  to  send  it  by  a 
common  messenger  and  without  a  proper  receipt.  He  entirely 
denied  that  he  had  failed  to  fill  up  vacant  fellowships,  and 
asserted  that  the  churches  in  the  gift  of  the  College  had  all 
been  repaired  during  his  occupancy,  and  better  supplied  with 
ministers  than  they  had  ever  been  before.1  He  acknowledged 
that  he  had  used  the  College  as  his  dwelling-house,  but  it  had 
already  been  turned  into  a  private  residence  and  occupied  by 
Sir  Thomas  Norris,  Sir  George  Carew,  and  Mr.  Jones  for 
several  years  before  he  gained  possession  of  it. 

Although  Wentworth's  motives  could  be  very  shortly 
stated,  the  action  dragged  on  for  many  a  month.  When 
Lord  Clifford  had  paid  a  visit  to  Ireland,  he  ventured  after  all 
to  write  to  the  Deputy  on  the  Earl  of  Cork's  behalf.  Went- 
worth  admitted  that  he  laid  himself  open  to  the  charge  of 
persecuting  his  nearest  friends  ;  but,  he  said,  if  he  did  not  press 
the  charges,  not  only  would  the  Church  lose  Youghal,  but  the 

1  The  settlements  on  Dungarvan  included  the  Church  property  of  Skull,  Killi- 
more,  Myros,  Cahara,  Ballymodane,  Temple  Guillan,  etc.  At  the  same  time  the 
rectories  and  impropriate  livings  of  Askeating,  Ballingarry,  Mallow,  Kilbolane,  and 
Dromlariff  were  settled  on  younger  sons. 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL   275 

world  would  believe  that  great  people  were  able  to  escape 
punishment.  f  If  the  Earl  did  not  prove  the  consent  of 
Warden  and  fellows  to  the  grant  of  fee  farm  now  in  question, 
then  I  judge  it  of  absolute  necessity  the  cause  should  proceed 
to  an  open  censure  of  justice,'  that  is,  the  Earl  should  be 
indicted  for  either  fraud  or  forgery.  If,  on  the  other  hand, 
continued  Wentworth,  Cork  should  succeed  in  proving  that 
the  Warden  and  fellows  were  parties  to  the  agreement,  the 
conclusion  might  be  referred  to  his  Majesty's  goodness  ;  but 
Wentworth  hoped  that  the  end  would  be  that  the  Warden, 
fellows,  and  choristers  should  be  once  more  settled  in  the 
College,  his  Majesty's  piety  making  him  a  second  founder, 
and  that  the  Earl  should  pay  a  fine  of  at  least  ,£10,000.  But, 
he  urged,  one  thing  was  all-important  :  the  case  must  be 
decided  on  Irish  soil,  under  the  Deputy's  own  authority,  as  it 
'  imports  his  Majesty's  service  to  preserve  the  credit  of  a 
Deputy.' l 

Important  as  it  was  for  the  Deputy  to  keep  the  case  in 
Ireland,  it  was  equally  important  for  Cork's  safety  that  he 
should  escape  to  England,  and  lay  his  case  directly  before  the 
King.  He  had  good  friends  at  the  English  court,  while  in 
Ireland  he  stood  alone  before  the  Deputy. 

When  Lord  Dunluce  was  on  his  way  to  England  in  1635, 
he  supped  with  Lord  Cork,  afterwards  driving  in  his  Lord- 
ship's coach  to  the  ship,  and  took  on  himself  the  rather 
dangerous  office  of  carrying  letters  from  the  Earl  to  the  King, 
praying  leave  to  come  over  ;  and  answers  were  received  the 
following  October,  when  the  favourite  servant  '  Badnedge, 
having  left  my  two  younger  sons  Francis  and  Robert  Boyle 
with  Sir  Henry  Wotton  at  Eton,  brought  me  over  letters 
from  the  Earls  of  Pembroke  and  Salisbury,  with  other  letters 

1  Strafford  Letters,  i.  459. 


276     LIFE  OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

from  Mr.  Secretary  Windibank  to  the  Ld.  Deputy,  signify- 
ing his  Majesty's  pleasure  that  when  all  examinations  in  the 
Star  Chamber  suit  were  taken  and  published,  and  the  Lord 
Deputy  had  certified  the  state  of  the  cause  and  his  opinion 
thereon,  that,  then  I  should  be  licensed  to  carry  them  over 
and  present  them  to  his  Majesty  and  submit  myself  to  his 
censure.'  That  is  to  say,  Wentworth  was  to  have  the  odium 
and  the  King  the  advantage.  Wentworth  on  this  wrote  very 
plainly  to  his  Majesty  complaining  that  Windibank's  letter 
flatly  contradicted  the  directions  sent  him  at  exactly  the  same 
time  by  Laud.1 

With  reference  to  these  letters  it  may  be  worth  remember- 
ing that  Badnedge's  accounts  mention  a  silver  ewer  and  bason, 
costing  ;£66,  i6s.,  presented  to  Mr.  Secretary  Windibank, 
and  ^40  to  Mr.  Reed,  the  Secretary's  kinsman,  to  quicken 
the  despatch  of  the  business,  and  also  ^50  given  to  the  Lord 
Chamberlain's  secretary.  The  Earl  certainly  did  his  best  to 
get  him  friends  with  the  mammon  of  unrighteousness,  but 
once  under  Straffbrd's  heel,  neither  silver  ewers  nor  royal 
letters  had  much  avail.  The  diary  goes  on :  'I  delivered 
those  letters  to  the  Lord  Deputy,  who  was  very  much  offended 
at  me  for  procuring  them,  as  if  I  had  appealed  from  his  justice, 
affirming  he  would  write  to  answer  to  his  Majesty  and  alter 
that  direction  if  he  could,  and  he  would  receive  a  new  com- 
mand from  the  King  ere  he  would  obey  this.  We  discoursed 
privately  in  the  gallery  three  hours  at  the  least,  and  in  con- 
clusion he  promised  me  to  forbear  doing  or  writing  any- 
thing till  his  certificate  was  prepared  after  examination  and 
publication.' 

Windibank's  letter,  one  would  have  imagined,  would  have 
pleased  Lord  Cork  as  little  as  it  did  the  Deputy,  for  it 

1  Strafford  Letters,  i.  477. 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    277 

described  Lady  Dungarvan's  relations  in  England  as  acknow- 
ledging him  guilty,  and  merely  crying  for  mercy  and  begging 
that  the  matter  might  be  hushed  up  for  the  sake  of  the  family 
name.  Wentworth,  as  we  shall  see,  had  no  objection  to 
hushing  the  matter  up,  so  long  as  he  could  get  what  fine  he 
pleased  out  of  Lord  Cork  ;  but  the  old  man  himself,  assured 
of  his  own  innocence,  neither  acknowledged  himself  beaten, 
nor  had  any  wish  but  to  prove  his  case  before  all  the  world. 
Probably  the  Cliffords  and  Salisburys,  being  lookers-on,  saw 
most  of  the  game,  and  knew  how  it  was  being  played  and 
how  it  would  end. 

The  business  now  was  to  force  Cork  into  this  admission. 
A  complete  history  of  the  pressure  put  on  him  was  written 
down  by  Cork  under  the  title  '  The  Earl  of  Cork's  Remem- 
brances of  the  ^  1 5,000  imposed  on  him.' l  His  story  opens 
with  a  visit  from  the  Lord  Primate  Ussher  on  the  23rd  of  April 
1636,  to  ask  him  privately  if  all  the  papers  relating  to  Youghal 
had  been  delivered  to  the  Attorney-General,  as  he  had  heard 
the  Deputy  give  direction  they  should  be  sent  for  ;  '  and  the 
Lord  Deputy,'  writes  Cork,  '  told  him  that  he  hoped  I  would 
disobey  his  command  and  not  deliver  up  my  writings,  which 
if  I  did  not,  he  would  that  he  might  commit  me  to  the  Castle 
of  Dublin  and  not  enlarge  me  till  I  had  paid  as  great  a  fine 
to  his  Majesty  as  the  College  of  Youghal  was  worth ' ;  but 
fortunately  the  Earl's  gentlemen  Badnedge  and  Hynson  had 
already  carried  the  papers  to  the  Attorney-General.  The 
Archbishop  further  told  Lord  Cork  that  the  Deputy  had 
said,  '  If  I  would  condescend  to  give  the  King  thirty  thousand 
pounds,  he  would  be  my  friend,  and  the  suit  in  Castle  Chamber 
should  be  withdrawn.' 

Two  days  later,  therefore,  Wentworth  sent  for  Cork  into 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  247. 


278     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

his  study,  there  being  no  one  else  there  but  his  confidential 
friends  Wandesford  and  Ratcliffe,  and  proposed  that  the  Earl 
should  appoint  three  friends  to  act  for  him  and  arrange  the 
matter  privately  for  him,  and  he  would  then  keep  his  promise 
to  the  Lord  Primate.  Cork  boldly  answered  he  was  resolved 
to  have  a  public  hearing  and  acquittal  ;  '  then  his  Lordship 
replied,  "  By  God,  that  you  shall  never  have."  I  aptly  con- 
ceiving that  this  meeting  was  not  intended  for  any  good  unto 
me,  but  only  to  gain  from  me  the  main  point  of  my  defence, 
that  he  might  be  the  better  prepared  against  me,  I  told  his 
Lordship  this  treaty  was  only  intended  to  gain  a  submission 
from  me.' 

The  Deputy  then  reminded  the  Earl  that  whether  he  were 
proved  guilty  of  forgery  or  no,  there  could  be  no  question 
that  he  was  liable  to  censure  for  making  the  College  authorities 
take  an  oath  never  to  trouble  him.  The  Earl  replied  their 
oath  was  a  voluntary  one,  but  even  if  it  were  illegal  it  was  not 
a  matter  for  the  decision  of  Castle  Chamber.  The  Deputy 
evidently  was  not  ready  with  an  answer  to  this  bit  of  legal 
acuteness,  for  he  replied  he  would  not  discuss  the  matter 
further  in  private  and  sent  for  Lord  Ranelagh,  Lowther,  and 
the  Master  of  the  Wards,  to  whom  he  made  a  long  discourse 
on  his  care  to  preserve  the  Earl ;  and  so  having  talked  from 
nine  till  two — they  really  seemed  able  to  talk  the  clock  round  ! 
— they  all  dined  together,  and  his  Lordship  drank  to  the  Earl 
and  showed  him  a  great  deal  of  respect. 

Then  there  appears  to  have  been  a  stay  of  proceedings  for 
a  while.  Perhaps  this  pause  was  made  to  permit  Cork  to  pay 
the  large  subsidy  of  ^3000  at  which  he  was  rated,  before 
making  an  even  greater  demand  on  his  purse. 

Then  suddenly,  in  the  course  of  a  friendly  visit,  Wentworth 
informed  Cork  that  his  case  would  be  called  the  following 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    279 

Tuesday.  On  that  day  Lord  Cork  stopped  the  Deputy  in  the 
gallery  on  his  way  into  court  to  remind  him  of  his  promise, 
given  six  months  before,  to  grant  him  licence  to  go  over  to 
England  and  plead  his  cause  before  the  King,  so  that  this 
'  speedy  day  of  hearing  seemed  vearie  sodden  and  most  strange 
unto  me.'  On  this  Wentworth  turned  the  tables  by  declaring 
that  if  the  case  were  brought  to  public  hearing,  it  was  all 
owing  to  the  Earl's  wilfulness,  who  would  never  be  advised 
by  him,  Wentworth,  who  was  the  best  friend  he  would  ever 
have.  He  then  repeated  his  former  offer,  that  the  Earl 
should  depute  three  friends  to  act  for  him,  Lord  Ranelagh, 
Sir  W.  Parsons,  and  Sir  Gerard  Lowther,  and  refer  it  to 
them  on  one  side,  and  to  Wandesford  and  Ratcliffe  on  the 
other,  to  decide  whether  or  no  the  Earl  were  worthy  of 
censure. 

So  these  gentlemen  did  meet  at  the  Castle,  and  there  they 
debated  from  nine  in  the  morning  till  two  in  the  afternoon, 
and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  Lord  Cork  ought  to  be 
granted  two  days  more  in  which  to  consider  his  position,  and 
then  on  the  2yth  of  April  he  attended  the  Lord  Deputy  on 
the  terrace  between  the  two  towers  of  the  Castle,  and  once 
more  protested  his  own  innocence  :  that  he  had  never  put  a 
seal  privately  to  his  lease  of  Youghal,  but  that  the  Warden, 
fellows  and  patron  met  in  the  Chapter  House  and  formally 
sealed  the  deed.  *  I  concluded,'  says  Lord  Cork  in  his  diary, 
'  that  as  I  had  formerly  left  the  marriage  of  my  son  and  heir 
at  his  disposal,  and  as  my  Lord  Clifford  had  in  his  last  letter 
advised  me  to  refer  myself  and  cause  to  his  Lordship,'  and  as 
the  Deputy  had  made  so  many  offers  and  promises  of  favour, 
'  I  desired  his  Lordship  to  impart  unto  me,  if  I  should  refer 
myself  unto  him,  how  he  would  deal  with  me.'  Any  hint  of 
compliance  softened  the  Deputy,  who  answered  graciously  that 


280    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

it  was  too  great  a  business  for  him  singly  to  undergo,  '  but  he 
would  discuss  the  subject  with  the  five  gentlemen  who  had 
been  chosen  to  arbitrate.' 

The  Primate  came  the  same  evening  to  urge  Lord  Cork 
not  to  let  the  case  go  to  extremity,  but  the  old  man  was 
exceeding  loth  to  buy  his  escape,  besides  fearing  such  an 
escape  would  be  equivalent  to  admitting  his  guilt  and  desire  to 
avoid  a  public  trial.  However,  the  Archbishop  was  not  the 
only  friend  who  counselled  submission,  and  the  next  day,  the 
29th,  Lord  Cork  yielded  so  far  as  to  send  an  ambassador. 

'  This  day  I  sent  my  son  Dungarvan  to  Sir  George 
Ratcliffe,  and  then  to  his  Lordship  ;  for  that  I  saw  my  danger 
approaching  and  the  vehemency  of  his  Lordship's  [i.e.  the 
Deputy's]  protestations,  first  by  my  Lord  Ranelagh,  then  by 
the  Lord  Primate,  and  afterwards  that  night  by  the  Lord 
President  of  Munster  and  the  Master  of  the  Wards,  and 
therefore  to  pacify  and  satisfy  his  Lordship  I  gave  my  son 
order  to  tender  him  ten  thousand  pounds,  and  if  that  would 
not  be  by  him  accepted,  to  raise  my  offer  rather  than  incense 
his  Lordship  higher,  to  fifteen  thousand  pounds  Irish.' 

But  these  offers  were  rejected  and  despised  ;  and  then 
Dungarvan  on  his  knees,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  entreated  his 
father  to  yield  all  the  Deputy  required,  offering  either  to 
surrender  all  the  estates  settled  on  him  at  his  marriage  to 
make  up  the  sum  demanded,  or  else  to  arrange  that  it  should 
be  charged  on  the  inheritance  to  come  to  him  at  his  father's 
death,  but  Lord  Cork  absolutely  refused  to  impoverish  his 
eldest  son  by  accepting  his  generous  offer,  and  still  held  out. 
Then  the  next  day  came  Sir  Adam  Loftus  and  Sir  Gerard 
Lowther  to  join  their  entreaties  to  those  of  Dungarvan  ;  but 
he  was  firm,  and  spent  all  May  Day  in  instructing  his  counsel, 
who  all  assured  him  that  legally  he  was  liable  to  censure  for 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    281 

nothing  but  the  oath  taken  by  the  Warden  and  collegioners, 
and  that,  having  been  voluntary  and  a  customary  thing  in 
Ireland,  would  be  no  serious  matter  ;  but  if  it  should  prove  to 
have  been  illegal,  it  was  a  case  for  ecclesiastical  and  for  not 
civil  courts. 

Then  at  midnight,  when  the  lawyers  were  but  just  gone, 
came  Archbishop  Ussher  once  more,  to  suggest  the  Earl's 
offering  £10,000  English  money.  '  I  told  to  him,'  writes  the 
Earl,  '  though  I  knew  my  innocency  as  clear  as  the  sun  at 
noonday,  yet  I  had  made  as  great,  or  greater  offer  by  my  son 
Dungarvan,  and  yet  it  was  rejected,'  and  further  that  he  believed 
many  of  the  messengers  sent  him  by  the  Deputy  were  only 
meant  to  ensnare  him.  The  Primate  then  assured  him  that 
the  Deputy  protested  that,  if  Lord  Cork  did  not  make  a  liberal 
offer,  he  would  the  very  next  morning  impose  a  judgment  of 
£30,000  on  him,  deprive  him  of  his  office  of  Treasurer,  and 
clap  him  up  into  the  Castle  of  Dublin.  Yet  still  the  old  man 
sat  unmoved,  and  declared  he  was  so  assured  of  the  justice  of 
his  cause,  that  he  believed  God  would  vouchsafe  him  a  gracious 
delivery,  which  the  good  Lord  Primate  could  but  pray  might 
be  so,  and  then  went  home.  Even  Cork's  enemies  were 
moved  with  pity  and  endeavoured  to  turn  his  mind,  though 
most  men  feared  to  speak  out  in  the  Deputy's  hearing.  Next 
morning  when  Lord  Cork  arrived  at  the  Castle,  he  found  his 
old  adversary  the  Lord  Chancellor  sitting  on  a  form,  who 
called  him  to  sit  down,  and  said,  '  My  Lord,  you  and  I  knew 
one  another  when  we  were  young  men,  and  have  both  been 
long  loving  friends,  and  although  of  late  some  unkindness 
have  happened  between  us,  yet  thanks  be  to  God  neither  of  us 
have  drawn  blood  of  one  another.  .  .  .  And  after  that  used 
many  reasons  and  arguments  to  bring  me  to  a  private  com- 
position rather  than  a  public  hearing.  I  asked  his  Lordship 


282     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

whether  he  had  perused  the  pleadings  and  examinations  ;  he 
told  me  he  had,  and  overread  them  and  weighed  every  word 
in  them.  I  desired  him  to  let  me  know  what  he  conceived 
of  them.  He  protested  unto  me  that  he  conceived  me  so 
innocent  that  he  thought  there  was  no  cause  to  blame  me, 
much  less  to  censure  me.  Then  I  told  his  Lordship  I  hoped 
he  would  deliver  his  vote  for  my  clearing.  "  Nay,  by  my 
faith,"  quoth  he,  "  I  will  not  promise  you  that  !  "  I  replied 
again  that  if  he  were  in  my  case  I  would  clear  him  if  my 
conscience  did  assure  me  he  were  not  guilty.  His  Lordship 
answered  that  it  was  very  necessary  for  me  to  be  exceedingly 
careful  of  myself,  for  that  it  was  not  my  cause,  but  my  judges 
that  I  was  to  fear.' 

The  Master  of  the  Wards  and  Sir  Adam  Loftus,  who  had 
meantime  gone  with  Sir  George  Ratcliffe  into  the  Deputy's 
chamber,  came  out  after  half  an  hour's  discourse  and  called 
Cork  in.  '  As  soon  as  I  came  in,  the  Lord  Deputy  asked 
me  whether  I  would  have  peace  or  war.  I  told  him  I  did 
pursue  peace  but  it  flew  from  me.  Then  he  replied,  I  have 
offered  you  peace  and  sent  many  messengers  unto  you,  but 
you  will  not  embrace  it,  and  therefore  I  must  needs  enter  into 
the  lists  against  you,  and  repeated  the  threats  he  had  made 
before.' 

Cork  replied  that  as  the  offers  he  had  made  by  his  son  had 
been  rejected,  he  had  made  a  vow  never  to  make  an  offer 
again.  Then  said  the  Deputy,  '  Let  the  Master  of  the  Wards 
make  an  offer  for  you,  for  he  knows  my  mind.'  So  at  last 
the  stiff-necked  old  Earl  consented  to  retire  into  the  gallery 
and  let  his  friends  talk  the  matter  out ;  and  then  Sir  George 
Ratcliffe  called  him  in  and  the  Deputy  told  him  his  fate  :  that 
Sir  William  Parsons  had  offered  on  his  behalf  a  sum  of 
^15,000,  to  be  paid  in  three  instalments  ;  and  in  return  the 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    283 

Deputy  promised  a  new  grant  from  the  King  of  the  College  at 
Youghal,  but  the  parsonage  and  tithes  of  the  College  were 
to  remain  at  the  King's  disposal. 

Cork  always  asserted  that  he  had  only  maintained  this 
long  struggle  for  the  sake  of  his  good  name.  So  far  as  the 
mere  money  was  concerned  he  paid  it  willingly,  as  it  was  to 
go  to  his  gracious  master  the  King,  for  whose  service  he 
would  gladly  sacrifice  life  and  estate,  but  he  was  assured  if  the 
King  only  knew  how  unjust  this  proceeding  was,  he  would 
never  take  one  penny  thereof;  he  prayed  God  forgive  the 
Deputy  and  his  counsellor  Ratcliffe,  but  the  chief  blame  he 
always  laid  on  *  the  perfidious  Lord  Bishop  of  Cork,  my  faith- 
less and  unthankful  kinsman,  whom  I  have  raised  from  being 
a  poor  schoolmaster  at  Barnet  when  he  had  but  a  stipend  of 
twenty  pounds.' 

Yet  even  after  the  ransom  was  agreed  on,  and  the  Deputy 
had  condescended  to  promise  he  would  hereafter  be  friends, 
Cork's  troubles  were  not  over.  On  the  second  of  July  he 
writes,  *  his  Lordship  made  a  fresh  assault  on  me,  which 
troubled  me  more  than  all  the  payment  of  money.  For  he, 
being  that  day  to  take  shipping  into  England,  came  unex- 
pectedly into  my  house  and  called  for  me,  taking  me  along 
with  him  into  my  gallery,  where  he  fell  into  discourse  touching 
the  Lord  Mountnorris,  charging  me  that  I  heard  the  Lord 
Mountnorris  say  that  he  made  his  Lordship  Lord  Deputy.' 
Probably  every  one  in  Dublin  had  heard  Mountnorris  utter 
some  wild  speech  or  other,  without  feeling  disposed  to  take 
up  the  cudgels  on  behalf  of  the  Deputy.  But  Cork  goes  on  : 
'  Whereon,  when  I  could  not  give  him  satisfaction,  he  took 
me  along  with  him  in  his  coach  to  the  Castle.  And,  I  waiting 
on  him  to  his  study  door  intending  to  call  for  my  own  coach  to 
be  ready  to  wait  upon  him  to  the  ship  side,  he  called  me  back, 


284     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

and  in  my  hearing  asked  Sir  George  RadclirFe  whether  all 
things  were  gone  a-shipboard.  He  answered  that  all  things 
were,  saving  that  casket  of  writings  which  he  knew  he  would 
not  trust  to  any  other,  but  would  carry  it  along  with  himself. 
But,  quoth  Sir  George,  my  Lord  of  Cork  hath  not  yet  signed 
his  petition  to  the  King.  But  it  must  be  done,  saith  the 
Lord  Deputy,  for  I  cannot  go  without  it.  Then  he  called  me 
to  sign  to  a  parchment  that  was  ready  prepared,  telling  me  it 
was  a  petition  to  the  King  for  the  new  granting  of  the  College 
of  Youghal.  I  told  his  Lordship,  This  is  the  first  time  that 
ever  I  heard  thereof,  and  that  I  made  no  suit  for  any  such 
thing,  and  therefore  desired  his  Lordship  that  I  might  have 
time  to  consider  it,  and  that  when  I  had  so  done  I  would 
subscribe  it  and  send  it  after  him  into  England.  Then  came 
his  gentleman  usher  unto  him  and  told  him  he  would  lose  the 
benefit  of  the  tide  and  passage  if  he  did  not  make  haste ;  and 
thereupon  the  trumpet  sounded  and  every  man  went  to  horse. 
Whereupon  his  Lordship  standing  with  one  leg  within  the 
study  door  and  the  other  without,  told  me  if  I  would  not 
trust  him  I  might  read  it,  which  I  beginning  to  do,  he  took  it 
out  of  my  hands  and  said  Sir  George  RadclifFe  could  read  it 
better  than  I,  for  he  was  better  acquainted  with  it.  And  so 
Sir  George  in  a  very  hasty  manner  read  it  over  and  desired  me 
to  make  haste  to  put  my  hand  unto  it,  whereupon  I  being 
surprised  made  some  stay  in  subscribing  ;  whereupon  the  Lord 
Deputy  was  much  offended,  telling  me  that  since  I  had  put 
myself  into  his  hands  I  must  trust  him.  And  thereupon  I 
signed  it  conditionally  that  he  should  send  me  a  true  copy  of 
it  under  his  own  hand  when  he  came  into  England,  which  he 
faithfully  promised  me,  and  then  clapped  the  writing  into  his 
cabinet.  But  from  that  day  to  this  I  could  never  see  that, 
nor  the  copy  of  it,  neither  can  I  remember  the  contents  of  it, 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    285 

it  was  so  postingly  read  over  unto  me ;  which  hath  ever  since 
disquieted  me.'  * 

Then  the  fluttered  and  hurried  old  man  had  to  get  into 
his  coach  and  solemnly  join  with  the  whole  council,  Sir  Adam 
Loftus  and  Lord  Digby,  in  the  escort  of  the  Lord  Deputy  to 
the  shore,  and  on  the  road  between  Dublin  and  Howth  the 
Deputy  knighted  two  gentlemen,  and  so  departed  from  Ireland 
in  all  state. 

Can  anything  be  more  dramatic  than  the  whole  story  ! 
Grey-bearded  Lord  Chancellor  Loftus  sitting  on  a  bench  in  the 
gallery,  and  only  daring  to  whisper  his  real  thoughts  ;  the 
stormy  Deputy,  wild  with  the  memory  of  Mountnorris's 
insolence,  snatching  the  parchment  out  of  the  fumbling  hands 
of  the  Earl  of  Cork,  and  pausing  half  in  and  half  out  of  the 
door  to  order  the  old  man  to  set  his  name  to  a  petition  whose 
contents  he  did  not  know,  '  the  while,  far  off,  a  summoning 
trumpet  blew.' 

Lord  Cork's  narrative  may  be  obscure  and  his  style 
involved,  but  the  very  faults  of  his  diary  make  it  the  more 
obviously  '  a  human  document,'  that  brings  back  to  life  for 
us  the  men  who  were  making  the  history  of  the  seventeenth 
century. 

The  Deputy's  stay  in  England  was  of  the  shortest,  and  the 
27th  of  this  June  1637,  Lord  Cork  was  summoned  to  appear 
at  the  Castle  to  conclude  the  business  with  his  *  three  feofees 
of  trust,'  Sir  William  Parsons,  Sir  William  Fenton,  and  Sir 
John  Brown,  to  meet  '  with  the  wicked  Bishop  of  Cork  and 
Mr.  Rugg,  who  signed  for  Michael  Boyle,  the  Bishop's  son, 
being  new  made  College  owner,  and  surrendered  the  College 
of  Youghal,  with  the  house,  gardens,  and  all  the  possessions 
thereof  to  his  Majesty  ;  and  the  Lord  Deputy  who  had  assured 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  259. 


286     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

me  that  he  had  procured  and  brought  out  of  England  his 
Majesty's  letters  for  regranting  the  house  and  lands  to  me  and 
my  heirs  for  ever,'  called  the  secretary  in  the  hearing  of  all 
these  gentlemen  and  ordered  him  to  fetch  the  letters  and 
deliver  them  to  the  Earl  of  Cork,  and  the  secretary  replied 
that  he  had  no  such  letters  at  all  !  Next  morning  the  Deputy 
had  to  admit  '  the  King's  letters  I  promised  your  Lordship 
are  either  mislaid  or  forgotten,  but  I  promise  your  Lordship 
on  my  faith  and  honour  that  if  Council  draw  up  such  a 
warrant  I  will  transmit  it  to  his  Majesty  and  procure  it  to  be 
signed.' 

The  last  instalment  of  the  immense  fine  laid  on  him  was 
paid  by  Cork  in  May  1636.  He  notes  that  he  sent  Badnedge, 
Donell  Duff  the  Queen's  harper,  and  three  servants  to  Dublin 
to  carry  it,  to  complete  the  payment  of  the  £15,000,  'God 
knows  upon  what  grounds,  for  I  do  not,  which  the  Lord 
Deputy  by  his  omnipotent  power  hath  laid  on  me.' 

But  the  new  grant  of  Youghal  from  the  King  does  not 
seem  to  have  been  signed  till  December  1640,  when  the 
Deputy  is  said  in  the  diary  to  have  once  more  promised  he 
would  procure  it.  The  rough  draft  of  this  much-desired 
warrant  probably  exists  in  the  shape  of  a  formal  letter  from 
the  King  to  the  Deputy,  preserved  among  the  Lismore  Papers. 
It  is  corrected  and  amended  all  through  in  Lord  Cork's  hand- 
writing.1 The  letter  directs  that  an  estate  in  fee-simple 
should  be  granted  to  the  Earl  and  to  the  trustees  of  Lady 
Dungarvan  of  the  Earl's  dwelling-house,  called  the  New 
College  House  in  Youghal,  and  all  the  messuages,  edifices, 
orchards,  entries,  etc.  etc.,  except  the  old  College  House, 
which  was  to  be  reserved  for  a  dwelling-house  '  for  the  parson 
or  vicar  that  is  to  serve  the  cure  of  the  parish  church  at 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  271. 


THE  HUMILIATION  OF  THE  GREAT  EARL    287 

Youghal  and  to  his  successors  for  ever.'  All  this  estate  to  be 
held  of  the  Castle  in  Dublin  in  free  and  common  soccage,  and 
not  in  capite^  or  by  knight's  service ;  as  also  the  village  and  land 
of  Ballymulcask  and  other  lands,  at  reasonable  rents.  And  a 
full  release,  acquittance,  and  discharge  to  the  Earl  and  other 
persons  who  had  disposed  or  entered  into  any  of  the  rents  and 
tithes  of  the  said  College,  or  any  of  the  rectories  or  vicarages 
belonging  to  it.  This,  in  regard  of  the  faithful  services  done 
by  the  Earl  of  Cork,  and  in  consideration  that  he  had  paid 
£10,000  into  the  Exchequer,  and  given  bonds  for  £5000  on 
the  24th  of  June  ensuing. 

'  I  can  with  truth  affirm,'  said  Cork  at  Strafford's  trial, 
'that  I  am  the  worse  by  £40,000  for  him  in  my  personal 
estate,  and  £1200  a  year  in  my  revenue.  .  .  .  He  hath 
enforced  me  to  pay  £4200  within  this  five  years  for 
subsidies  which  might  have  ransomed  me  if  I  had  been 
prisoner  with  the  Turks,  and  was  more  than  himself  and  all 
the  Lords  of  the  Council  in  England  paid  for  the  last  subsidy 
in  England.' l 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  4.  174. 


CHAPTER    XVII 

A    HAVEN    OF    REFUGE 
1638 

'  Where  vice  prevails  and  impious  men  bear  sway 
The  post  of  honour  is  a  private  station.' 

ADDISON,  Cato. 

DURING  the  winter  days  of  1637  the  old  Earl  sat  once  more 
by  his  own  fireside  at  Lismore,  and  there  while  he  summed  up 
the  income  his  children  would  receive  from  the  inheritance  he 
had  allotted  to  them,  the  old  man's  heart  overflowed  with 
thankfulness,  in  spite  of  his  sorrows  and  losses,  and  he  wrote 
down  in  his  diary  his  gratitude  for  '  the  large  revenue  where- 
with my  good  and  gracious  God  hath,  without  any  merit  or 
desert  of  mine,  so  bountifully  with  his  all-giving  hand  blessed 
me,  for  which  bounty  of  our  God  to  me  and  them,  the 
Almighty  make  me  everlastingly  and  truly  thankful,  and  that 
we  may  enjoy  and  increase  them  with  his  blessing  and  with 
all  happiness  and  prosperity  as  given  us  by  his  divine  hand. 
Amen.  Amen.  Amen.' 

Lord  Cork's  words  of  thanksgiving  were  even  more 
solemn  than  were  his  wont,  for  when  he  wrote  he  was  not 
sure  that  he  might  not  be  taking  his  last  survey  of  the  riches 
he  had  gathered  during  his  long  life.  That  winter  it  had 
seemed  to  all  that  yet  another  broken  heart  would  be  laid 
beneath  Irish  sod,  and  that  the  name  of  the  great  Earl  of 
Cork  would  be  entered,  after  Clanrickard  and  Desmond,  in 


A   HAVEN   OF   REFUGE  289 

the  roll  of  those  who  were  too  proud  to  survive  the  vicissi- 
tudes of  fortune.  Directly  after  the  record  of  lands  and  of 
gold  in  the  diary  comes  the  entry,  '  Given  Mr.  Jacob  Longe 
of  Kinsale,  my  German  physician,  for  his  plaisters  and  pre- 
scriptions to  stay  the  encrease  of  the  dead  palsy  which  hath 
seized  upon  all  the  right  side  of  my  body,  God  help  me,  ^5.' 

All  Lord  Cork's  children  gathered  to  Lismore  to  tend  and 
console  the  old  man.  He  wrote  with  pleasure  how  '  the 
Earl  of  Kildare  and  my  daughter,  with  their  son  and  heir,  and 
Sir  John  Browne  and  his  lady,  and  Stephen  Crow  and  his  wife, 
came  to  Lismore  to  visit  me  in  mine  infirmity.'  Lady  Browne 
and  Mary  Crow  were,  it  may  be  remembered,  the  daughters 
of  the  Earl's  beloved  brother,  Bishop  John  Boyle,  while  Sir 
John  Browne  of  Awney,  the  nephew  of  the  Earl's  first  wife, 
must  have  brought  to  the  old  man  memories  of  her,  his  first 
love,  to  whose  generosity  he  had  owed  the  beginnings  of  his 
wealth  and  prosperity. 

Mary  Boyle  also  came  over  with  Lady  Clayton  for  a  ten- 
days'  visit,  and  her  father  wrote  that  he  *  gave  Moll  ten 
shillings  and  her  maid  ten  shillings,'  and  with  the  unfailing 
delight  in  his  treasures,  which  is  pathetic  enough  under  the 
circumstances,  he  also  wrote  that  he  gave  to  her  and  to  Lady 
Kildare  each  '  a  rich  Indian  coverlid  for  a  bed,  all  wrought 
with  needlework,  being  well  worth  a  hundred  pounds  apiece.' 

But  most  welcome  of  all  to  Lismore  must  have  beerr 
Lady  Barrymore,  who  came,  not  to  pay  a  mere  visit  of 
condolence,  but  to  remain  there  and  be  installed  as  mistress 
of  her  father's  household  ;  in  the  autumn  following  he  wrote 
that  he  was  paying  her  £10  a  week  for  the  charge  of  the 
housekeeping,  besides  £  1 8  paid  to  Sir  William  Hull  for  sugar 
and  other  provisions. 

It  was  no  wonder  that   the  old  Earl  had   broken  down 


29o     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

under  the  humiliation  that  Strafford  had  heaped  upon  him, 
but  the  care  of  his  children  and  his  own  wonderful  con- 
stitution triumphed  over  the  paralytic  seizure.  He  was  of 
tougher  fibre  than  that  proud  Earl  of  Clanrickard  who  had 
not  survived  the  mortification  of  his  defeat  by  the  Deputy. 
The  Earl  of  Cork  had  been  taught  endurance  by  many  years 
of  struggle,  and  in  an  astonishingly  short  time  the  irrepressible 
old  man  was  once  again  plunging  into  the  life  of  business  and 
politics  as  though  age  and  sickness  had  no  power  over  him. 
If  we  had  no  other  records  to  tell  of  the  Earl's  recovery, 
the  housekeeping  accounts  speak  plainly  enough,  for  from 
;£io  a  week  during  the  enforced  quiet  of  his  invalid  days 
the  household  expenses  sprang  to  ^200  a  week  in  the  year 
1639. 

Even  before  his  illness  he  had  realised  that  Ireland  was 
not  large  enough  to  hold  both  the  great  Lord  Deputy  and 
the  great  Earl  of  Cork,  and  had  sought  for  an  English  place 
of  refuge  beyond  the  reach  of  Strafford's  heavy  hand.  From 
this  time  forward  his  thoughts  were  chiefly  turned  towards 
the  estate  in  Dorset  which  he  decided  to  purchase  from  Lord 
Castlehaven. 

This  estate  was  near  Sherborne,  the  castle  where  Ralegh 
had  lived  in  the  days  of  his  prosperity,  and  that  had  now 
passed  into  the  hands  of  that  wise  Lord  Bristol  who  had 
been  Ambassador  at  Madrid.  Lord  Bristol  was  exactly  the 
old-fashioned  type  of  politician  that  suited  Lord  Cork's 
taste,  and  he  was  also  the  kinsman  of  Cork's  son-in-law 
Lord  Digby,  so  there  can  be  little  doubt  it  was  with  the 
advice  of  this  sage  friend  that  the  Earl  selected  the  Manor 
House  of  Stalbridge  for  his  English  home,  and  prayed  in 
his  diary — 

'  God  of  Heaven  bless  me  in  this  my  first  English  purchase.' 


A   HAVEN  OF   REFUGE  291 

The  purchase  cost  him  ^5000,  paid  in  instalments,  and 
at  one  time  he  feared  it  might  prove  even  more  costly,  as 
the  widowed  Lady  Castlehaven  refused  to  consent  to  her 
son's  sale  of  the  estate,  without  a  present  to  herself  of  one 
hundred  pieces.  Lord  Cork  seems  to  have  had  a  particular 
objection  to  paying  dower  on  his  land  purchases,  and  was 
disposed  to  do  as  he  had  so  often  done  in  Ireland,  buy  the 
land  as  a  speculation,  on  the  chance  that  Lady  Castlehaven 
would  give  way,  when  it  was  discovered  that  the  Countess 
had  already  resigned  her  right  of  dowry  from  Stalbridge, 
and  the  purchase  was  completed  without  any  more  ado. 

In  August  1637,  having  hunted  the  old  man  well-nigh 
to  death,  the  Lord  Deputy  graciously  signified  that  Lord  Cork 
might  crawl  into  a  corner  and  be  at  peace,  and  signed  a 
warrant  granting  him  leave  for  an  unlimited  stay  in  England, 
carrying  with  him  out  of  Ireland  twelve  saddle  horses  and 
twelve  post  horses.  But  the  great  Earl  of  Cork  had  no  mind 
to  hurry  out  of  the  country  as  though  he  were  an  escaping 
criminal  :  he  spent  a  whole  year  in  setting  his  house  in  order, 
and  then  on  the  last  day  of  July  1638  he  left  Lismore  in 
his  wonted  patriarchal  fashion.  He  had  but  one  unmarried 
daughter  to  accompany  him  to  England,  for  baby  Peggie's 
short  life  was  over.  When  Lettice  Goring  brought  the 
motherless  child  from  England  in  1631,  she  was  at  once 
sent  off  to  kind  Lady  Clayton,  under  the  care  of  her  maid, 
Nan  Roseen,  while  Lady  Kildare  lent  her  own  children's 
nurse  to  superintend  the  baby's  journey ;  but  she  was  a 
delicate  little  thing,  and  all  their  love  only  kept  her  alive 
for  a  few  years.  In  1637,  Lord  Cork  wrote,  'Gave  Dr. 
Higgins  at  Lismore  £$  in  gold  to  give  physic  to  my  daughter 
Peggie,  which  he  never  did.'  And  the  following  June  is  the 
entry,  '  God  called  to  His  mercy,  out  of  this  world  to  a  better, 


292     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

my  youngest  daughter,  the  Lady  Margaret  Boyle,  who  de- 
parted this  life  in  Sir  Randall  Clayton's  house  near  Cork. 
Buried  in  Youghal.' 

But  now  in  1638  Clayton  was  dead,  and  his  widow  was 
diminishing  her  establishment,  so  Mary  Boyle  returned  to 
her  father,  and  with  Lord  and  Lady  Barrymore  and  their 
three  children,  Peggy  Sherlock,  Lord  Barrymore's  sister,  and 
Lord  Kildare's  little  son  and  heir,  sailed  down  the  Blackwater  to 
Ballynetra  with  Lord  Cork.  There  they  dined  and  took  leave 
of  the  Smyths,  and  the  same  night  they  embarked  at  Youghal 
on  the  King's  ship,  The  Ninth  Whelp.  The  wind,  however, 
was  unfavourable,  and  the  next  day  they  came  ashore  again 
to  sup  with  a  friend,  but  the  following  morning  they  ventured 
to  set  sail,  '  and,  God  be  ever  praised,  had  a  very  good  passage 
and  landed  all  safely  at  Bristol,  August  4,  and  I  gave  the 
company  of  the  King's  ship  ^20,  and  to  the  Captain  Owens 
a  fair  sword,  a  silver  salt,  and  all  that  was  left  of  a  hogshead 
of  claret  wine.' 

The  day  after  their  arrival  being  Sunday,  they  rested  to 
praise  God  for  their  happy  passage,  and  on  the  6th  of  August 
they  left  Bristol  at  ten  in  the  morning,  the  Earl  riding  on  a 
gelding  lent  him  by  George  Hillier,  the  merchant,  who  was 
now  Sheriff  of  Bristol.  '  And,'  writes  the  Earl,  '  came  in  good 
time  to  my  house  at  Stalbridge  in  Dorset,  being  the  first  time 
that  ever  I  saw  the  place.  My  son  Dungarvan  met  me  six 
miles  on  the  road,  and  I  found  his  lady  and  her  daughters 
here  before  me,  and  Mr.  Robert  Christopher.'  Strafford  had 
certainly  not  succeeded  in  making  an  end  of  the  Great  Earl  ! 
The  old  man  was  now  seventy-two  years  of  age,  and  had  been 
struck  by  paralysis,  and  yet  he  chronicles  as  a  matter  of  course 
that  he  rode  nearly  sixty  miles  in  one  day. 

Before  Lord  Cork  fairly  settled  himself  in  his  new  home 


A   HAVEN   OF   REFUGE  293 

he  paid  a  hurried  visit  to  London,  to  make  sure  that  his 
position  in  England  was  secure.  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  had 
been  almost  his  first  guest  in  Dorset,  and  probably  it  was 
his  advice  that  brought  the  Earl  up  to  court,  leaving  home 
on  the  9th  of  October  1638,  in  company  with  Barrymore 
and  Dungarvan.  They  slept  a  night  at  Eton  that  Lord  Cork 
might  see  his  two  boys,  and  the  visit  to  town,  though  short, 
proved  eminently  satisfactory.  Cork  had  a  '  most  gracious 
conference  with  his  Majesty  at  Whitehall,  who  gave  me  a  most 
comfortable  acknowledgment  of  the  many  good  services  I  had 
done  his  royal  father  and  himself,  especially  for  my  acceptable 
discharge  of  the  government  of  Ireland,  which  he  would 
reward  to  me  and  my  children.  Then  I  had  the  like  from  my 
Lord  of  Canterbury,  both  in  the  hearing  of  the  Lord  Goring.' 

Truly  life  is  well  compared  to  an  April  day  :  '  A  little 
sun,  a  little  rain  ! '  Can  any  transformation  scene  be  more 
abrupt  than  this,  when  my  Lord  of  Canterbury  is  paying 
compliments  to  '  Old  Cork '  ?  And  perhaps  the  strangest 
thing  of  all  is  to  find  Cork  accepting  all  these  fine  phrases  as 
genuine  ;  but  he  knew  they  ought  to  be  true,  and  therefore, 
with  dignified  self-respect,  he  assumed  they  were. 

Indeed  the  old  Earl's  wisdom  and  urbanity  plainly  made 
a  considerable  impression  on  Laud,  who  wrote  with  surprise 
and  pleasure  to  tell  Strafford  *  how  discreetly  and  nobly  the 
old  man  spake.'  The  relations  between  the  Earl  and  Arch- 
bishop continued  to  be  quite  friendly,  and  when  Laud  was 
making  great  efforts  to  raise  funds  to  restore  old  St.  Paul's, 
Lord  Cork  sent  '  thankful  letters  to  my  Lord  of  Canter- 
bury, and  j£ioo  to  present  to  him  for  the  re-edifying  of 
Paul's  Church.'  The  money  was  delivered  at  Lambeth  by 
Perkins  the  tailor,  who  usually  acted  as  banker  to  the  Boyle 
family.  A  true  Londoner,  Perkins  had  no  love  for  the  Arch- 


294     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

bishop,  and  wrote  a  lively  account  of  his  proceedings  to  Lord 
Cork  : — 

'  I  attended  Sir  T.  Stafford  to  the  Archbishop  with  ^100, 
for  so  Sir  Thomas  would  have  it,  and  in  a  fair  white  purse 
presented  it  to  his  Grace,  after  that  Sir  Thomas  had  presented 
your  Lordship's  services  to  him.  He  took  it  very  respectively, 
and  heartily  thanked  my  Lord  of  Cork,  and  turning  it  out  of 
the  purse  on  the  carpet,  said,  "  A  man  may  tell  money  after 
his  father,"  and  so  himself  told  it  and  found  it  to  be  ^100  in 
fair  gold,  and  put  it  up  into  his  purse  and  so  into  his  pocket, 
telling  me  that  I  should  receive  from  him  an  acquittance  for 
so  much,  but  he  was  full  of  business  for  the  present.' 

Lord  Cork  had  not  been  long  at  Stalbridge  before  he 
found  the  mansion  was  not  large  enough  for  his  great  family 
and  overflowing  hospitality,  so  he  was  able  to  indulge  his 
Elizabethan  passion  for  building  with  a  clear  conscience.  He 
wrote  to  Monsieur  Decon,  a  French  architect  belonging  to 
my  Lord  Chamberlain,  to  '  draw  a  plot  for  contriving  my  new 
intended  building  over  the  great  cellar  at  Stalbridge.'  The 
architect  was  paid  £$  for  his  plans,  and  the  business  of 
carrying  them  out  was  intrusted  to  a  local  builder,  a  *  free- 
mason,' Hyde  of  Sherborne. 

We  all  know  and  admire  the  stately  Jacobean  stone 
mansions  of  the  West  of  England,  so  it  is  curiously  interest- 
ing to  be  actual  spectators  of  the  erection  of  one  of  these 
houses,  and  hear  how  the  builder  was  paid  £%  for  eight  round 
pillars  with  bases  and  capitals  of  Hampden  stone  to  set  up  in 
the  cellar  and  support  the  first  floor,  and  that  one  great  beam 
of  twenty-four  feet  long  cost  forty  shillings.  The  terrace 
before  the  hall  door  was  to  be  closed  in  with  a  stone  balustrade 
made  of  the  same  pattern  as  that  of  the  staircase  within  the 
house,  only  three  inches  higher,  cramped  with  iron,  and  the 


A   HAVEN   OF   REFUGE  295 

balusters  set  so  close  that  a  dog  could  not  creep  through. 
The  same  balustrade  was  to  rail  in  the  raised  way  from  the 
hall  door  to  the  front  gate,  the  whole  way  to  be  paved  with 
freestone  after  the  fashion  of  Lord  Bristol's  at  Sherborne. 

The  same  builder  was  to  put  up  chimney-pieces  '  of  Mar- 
nell  quarry  stone,  with  figures  answerable  or  better  than  those 
already  in  the  Earl's  bedchamber,'  and  was  to  keep  six  masons 
at  work  till  the  building  was  complete.  A  skilled  freemason 
of  Bristol,  Christopher  Watts,  was  commissioned  to  make 
some  finer  chimney-pieces.  A  very  superior  one  for  the 
parlour  was  to  reach  up  close  to  the  ceiling,  with  the  Boyle 
coat-of-arms  on  it,  '  complete  with  crest,  helmet,  coronet, 
supporters,  and  mantling  and  footpace,  fair  and  graceful  in  all 
respects,'  costing  ^10.  He  was  also  desired  to  make  twelve 
figures,  each  three  feet  high,  to  stand  on  the  staircase  ;  but 
there  came  to  be  a  debate  over  the  price  of  these,  for  the 
sculptor  asked  twenty  shillings  for  each  figure,  and  the  Earl 
thought  thirteen  and  fourpence  would  be  enough.  It  was  at 
last  agreed  that  he  should  cut  two  sample  figures,  one  of  Pallas 
holding  a  shield,  and  one  of  the  Earl's  coat-of-arms,  when  it 
would  be  seen  what  the  work  was  really  worth. 

In  August  1639  the  Earl  was  able  to  improve  the  approach 
to  the  house,  by  securing  the  life-estate  of  a  poor  woman  '  in 
the  cottage  and  garden  adjoining  my  orchard  wall,  to  lengthen 
the  walk  or  career  by  me  newly  made  and  set  with  young 
elms,  called  William  Sidenham's  Walk,'  no  doubt  the  raised 
way  that  is  elsewhere  described  as  leading  from  the  high  road 
to  the  hall  door,  through  an  avenue  of  elm-trees. 

The  following  winter  the  Earl  had  a  bowling-green  laid 
out,  himself  providing  materials  and  carriage,  and  paying  ^70 
in  all  to  the  workmen. 

The  garden  was   also  newly  stocked  with  fruit :    Daniel 


296     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

Sullivan  of  Berehaven  sent  Harvey  apples  and  Bon  Chretien 
and  Bergamot  pears  over  from  Kerry,  and  also  for  the 
shrubbery  forty-four  arbutus  or  cane  apples,  as  they  were 
usually  called,  four  of  which  were  presented  to  Lord  Bristol, 
and  four  to  his  lordship's  son-in-law,  John  Freke.  Lord 
Cork  had  perhaps  discovered  and  admired  the  arbutus  trees  of 
Kerry  in  his  old  campaigns  under  Carew  ;  he  certainly  made 
a  specialty  of  them,  as  they  were  among  the  first  shrubs 
planted  in  his  pleasure-grounds  at  Youghal,  and  when  Ralph 
Verney  wished  to  add  some  to  his  collection  at  Claydon,  his 
cousin,  Magdalen  Falconer,  wrote  from  Castle  Lyons  that 
none  were  to  be  got  in  that  part  of  Ireland  but  from  Lord 
Cork  ;  but  she  made  no  doubt  but  to  get  some  slips,  and  send 
them  over  at  the  proper  time  for  planting,  in  the  beginning 
of  February.1 

The  inside  of  the  house  at  Stalbridge  was  not  neglected, 
and  orders  were  given  to  Mr.  Spence  at  the  sign  of  the  Grass- 
hopper to  send  from  London  a  new  red  embroidered  satin 
bed,  and  a  tawny  velvet  carpet,  chairs,  stool,  and  couch.  It 
is  interesting  to  find  that  Cowper's  pity  in  the  'Task  for  our 
sofaless  ancestors  was  wasted,  and  the  Earl  of  Cork  at  least 
possessed  a  velvet  couch.  The  new  satin  bed  also  acquires 
fresh  interest  when  we  read  that  more  material  was  provided 
for  it  than  was  wanted,  and  the  piece  of  red  satin  over  was 
given  to  Lady  Mary  Boyle  as  a  New  Year's  gift  to  make  her 
a  waistcoat ! 

The  house  linen  bought  included  '  two  caddows  for  my 
servant,  £ioy  135.'  Caddo  is  the  Irish  name  for  a  rough 
blanket,  so  it  may  be  seen  that  the  Earl  could  use  an  Irish 
word  or  two,  even  though  an  interpreter  was  present  when  he 
sat  at  Magistrates'  meetings  in  Western  Munster. 

1  V.  Mems.,  i.  29. 


A   HAVEN   OF   REFUGE  297 

But  Lord  Cork  did  not  wait  till  his  house  was  beautified 
before  filling  it  with  guests.  He  did  but  rest  two  days  after 
his  arrival  from  Ireland  before  riding  over  to  Sherborne  to 
'  present  my  love  and  service  to  my  noble  friend  the  Earl  of 
Bristol,'  and  in  a  few  days'  time  the  Earl  of  Bristol  returned 
the  visit,  accompanied  by  his  lady  and  his  daughter-in-law, 
Lady  Digby,  '  daughter  to  my  much-honoured  Lord  the  Earl 
of  Bedford,'  Lord  Cork  is  careful  to  note.  On  St.  Bartholo- 
mew's Day  the  whole  family  from  Stalbridge  rode  over  to 
feast  and  pass  two  nights  at  Sherborne  Castle  ;  and  then  the 
lively  old  Earl  went  further  afield  for  his  junketing,  for  he 
rode  with  Barrymore,  Dungarvan,  his  nephew  Dick  Power, 
and  Mr.  Christopher,  to  '  the  Bath,'  where  they  lay  at  the 
mayor's  house,  and  on  the  jist  of  August  they  rode  on  to 
Badminton,  where  the  Countess  of  Ormond  was  staying,  and 
spent  the  night  there.  They  returned  to  Stalbridge  on  the 
i  st  of  September  to  find  Lady  Barrymore  entertaining  *  Sir 
Thomas  Stafford,  Sergeant  Dendy  and  Mr.  W.  Perkins, 
Mayor,  who  came  kindly  purposely  from  London,  to  pay  me 
a  visit.' 

It  is  perhaps  fanciful  to  search  for  political  intrigues  in 
these  friendly  visits,  but  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  noticing  how 
StrafFord's  enemies  were  made  welcome  at  Stalbridge  ;  old  Sir 
Piers  Crosby,  who  had  dared  to  speak  his  mind  concerning 
the  King's  graces  in  the  Irish  Parliament,  and  had  been  clapped 
into  prison  by  StrafFord,  paid  Lord  Cork  a  visit,  and  the  Earl 
lent  him  twenty  pounds  in  gold  without  any  bond  but  his 
promise  to  repay  it.  Even  Lord  Mountnorris  forgot  his 
ancient  squabbles  at  the  Council  table  in  Dublin  Castle,  and 
came  to  visit  Lord  Cork,  and  Lord  Esmond  was  actually 
staying  at  Stalbridge  when  an  officer  arrived  from  StrafFord  to 
arrest  him,  when  Lord  Cork  gave  bail  for  his  appearance,  and 


298     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

took  Mountnorris  and  Esmond  over  to  dine  at  Sherborne 
Castle.  Men  of  all  parties  were  glad  to  take  counsel  with  the 
wise  old  Earl  of  Bristol ;  but  when  he  in  his  turn  invited 
Lord  Cork  purposely  to  meet  Puritans  such  as  Newport  and 
Essex,  we  cannot  but  suspect  that  the  talk  was  of  more  serious 
matters  than  apple-trees  and  terrace  balustrades. 

But  plenty  of  cheerful  visitors  came  to  stay  at  Stalbridge 
whose  coming  had  no  political  significance.  Old  'Cozen 
Tompkins  came  out  of  Herefordshire  purposely  to  visit  me ' ; 
smart  friends  arrived  from  London,  and  grandchildren  from 
County  Cork  who  were  scarcely  younger  than  the  Earl's 
youngest  sons,  and  with  the  merry  party  overflowing  from  the 
great  house  into  village  lodgings  and  rooms  at  the  rectory, 
the  good  old  days  began  again,  and  the  old  Earl  was  once 
more  the  complacent  provider,  ruler,  and  counsellor  of  a  tribe 
of  relations  and  dependants.  His  niece,  Dorothy  Smyth,  now 
married  to  the  son  of  his  old  friend  William  Freke  of  Sareen, 
came  over  that  her  first  baby  should  be  born  and  christened 
at  Stalbridge  ;  and  Dorothy's  sister  Kate,  whom  the  Earl  had 
married  to  his  ward  William  Supple,  was  not  long  in  following. 
Even  Kate's  foster-sister  away  in  County  Waterford  could  not 
get  married  without  Lord  Cork's  help,  and  sent  her  brother 
all  the  way  from  Ireland  to  beg  for  a  dowry,  when  Lord  Cork 
directed  that  twenty  pounds  out  of  the  forty  due  to  him  for 
rent  should  be  made  over  to  the  bride  for  her  fortune,  and  he 
gave  her  brother  half  a  piece  for  his  trouble  and  an  order  for 
a  horse  out  of  the  horse-herd  at  Lismore. 

A  lady  of  higher  rank  sent  over  on  much  the  same  busi- 
ness. Sir  John  Leeke's  widowed  daughter  Biddy  Hals  had 
promised  Lord  Cork  she  would  not  marry  again  without  his 
approval,  so  although  her  suitor  was  Lord  Cork's  favourite 
gentleman,  Tom  Badnedge,  she  would  not  give  him  an 


A  HAVEN   OF   REFUGE  299 

answer  till  she  heard  the  old  Earl's  opinion.  The  match  was 
not  exactly  a  good  one  for  her,  as  her  position  in  the  county 
would  be  lowered  unless  Badnedge  were  made  a  knight,  while, 
as  her  father  proudly  wrote  to  his  Verney  cousins,  she  was 
*  well  worth  two  hundred  marks,  her  debts  paid,  and  her  child 
well  provided  for.'  Evidently  Lord  Cork  approved,  and 
Biddy's  ambition  was  conquered,  and  her  father  wrote,  '  She 
will  live  happy,  for  she  loves  him.'  Lord  Cork  made  him 
Captain  of  the  town  guard  at  Youghal,  but  Sir  John  confessed 
that  although  the  office  '  was  a  credit,  it  was  not  a  pound 
profitable.'  But  Badnedge  also  was  granted  favourable  leases 
of  lands  about  Tircullen,  and  the  Earl  bequeathed  him  an 
annuity  of  £10  ;  he  did  not,  however,  live  to  be  an  old  man, 
and  Biddy  had  a  third  husband  before  she  died. 

Then  Lord  Cork,  whose  greatest  joy  in  life  was  making 
up  a  match,  had  the  pleasure  of  marrying  his  favourite  niece, 
Kate  Boyle,  to  William  Tynte,  the  son  of  Sir  Robert  Tynte 
and  Spenser's  widow,  '  and,'  writes  the  Earl,  '  my  servant 
delivered  her  £$o  to  buy  clothes  and  linen.  The  Great 
God  of  Heaven  bless  and  prosper  her  with  all  happiness.' 
The  wedding  was  at  Stalbridge  Church  in  August  1639, 
Lord  Esmond  and  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  and  other  fine  folk 
being  present.  She  had  arrived  at  Stalbridge  the  previous 
spring,  when  Lord  Cork  had  written  with  delight  of  '  Arthur 
Jones  and  my  daughter  Katherine  his  lady,  and  my  niece 
Kate  Boyle,  who  with  their  retinue  were  exceedingly  welcome 
unto  me.' 

It  was  also  not  long  before  Lady  Kildare  arrived  at 
Stalbridge,  bringing  the  two  youngest  Boyles,  Francis  and 
Robert,  for  their  holidays  from  Eton,  and  then  Broghill  and 
Kinalmeaky  returned  from  making  the  grand  tour  with 
Mr.  Marcombes,  their  tutor,  who  had  been  recommended 


300     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

to  Lord  Cork  by  the  great  Provost  of  Eton,  Sir  Henry 
Wotton.  Mr.  Marcombes,  Sir  Henry  had  written,  was  '  by 
birth  French,  a  native  of  the  province  of  Auvergne,  bred 
seven  years  in  Geneva,  very  sound  in  religion  and  well  con- 
versant with  religious  men,  furnished  with  good  literature 
and  languages,  especially  Italian,  which  he  speaketh  as 
promptly  as  his  own,  and  will  be  a  good  guide  to  your 
sons  in  that  delicate  piece  of  the  world.  He  seemeth  in 
himself  neither  of  a  lumpish  nor  of  a  light  composition,  but 
of  a  well-tried  mean.'  Robin  Boyle,  who  later  on  passed  in 
his  turn  into  Mr.  Marcombes'  hands,  describes  his  tutor  as 
'  a  traveller  and  soldier,  better  read  in  men  than  in  books, 
not  wanting  in  scholarship,  but  hating  pedantry  as  he  did 
the  seven  deadly  sins.  He  was  thrifty,  not  from  avarice, 
but  from  prudence,  desiring  to  live  handsomely  all  his 
life.' 

In  those  days  travelling  was  no  easy  or  safe  amusement 
even  for  wealthy  young  lords  who  had  all  the  conveniences 
that  money  could  supply,  and  the  tour  narrowly  escaped  a 
tragic  termination,  for  the  two  Boyles  and  their  cousin,  Boyle 
Smyth,  fell  ill  of  a  virulent  type  of  small-pox  at  Genoa,  and 
in  spite  of  the  tutor's  devoted  care  young  Smyth  died. 
Mr.  Marcombes'  letters  had  given  a  vivid  account  of  his 
difficulty  in  nursing  the  three  boys,  none  of  whom  could 
understand  a  word  said  by  their  foreign  doctors  and  servants, 
and  of  his  endeavours  to  prepare  Boyle  Smyth  for  death. 
'The  end  of  his  life,'  said  Mr.  Marcombes,  'was  not  the 
end  of  my  trouble,  for  I  was  afraid  the  Inquisition  would 
seize  upon  him  and  ourselves,'  and  would  send  the  corpse  to 
be  buried  in  the  place  where  they  bury  their  horses  and  their 
dogs.  Mr.  Marcombes  could  not  even  buy  a  coffin,  and  was 
driven  to  place  his  pupil's  dead  body  in  a  trunk  and  pay  a 


A   HAVEN   OF   REFUGE  301 

mariner  to  carry  it  to  sea  and  cast  it  overboard  ten  or  twelve 
miles  from  land. 

No  wonder  Lord  Cork's  heart  overflowed  with  thank- 
fulness when  his  boys  came  back  to  him,  and  he  could  write 
in  March  1629  : — 

'  This  day,  my  true  friend  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  brought 
me  home  to  Stalbridge  in  health  and  safety  my  daughter  the 
Lady  Lettice  Goring  and  my  two  sons,  the  Lord  Viscount 
Kinalmeaky  and  the  Lord  of  Broghill,  with  Mr.  Marcombes 
their  tutor.  As  they  all  departed  from  me  together  at  Dublin, 
so  God  of  His  great  goodness  brought  them  back  together 
to  me  this  day,  for  which  blessing  may  God  make  me  and 
them  thankful  to  His  divine  Majesty.' 

Lady  Dungarvan  and  Lady  Barrymore  shared  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  housekeeping  for  this  large  family,  assisted 
by  Thomas  Langdale,  Clerk  of  the  Kitchen,  and  Thomas 
Cross  the  Steward.  They  were  allowed  £$o  a  week,  out 
of  which  they  were  to  pay  us.  to  the  stables,  and  were  to 
have  the  produce  of  the  lands  and  woods  of  Stalbridge, 
besides  powdered  beef,  salt  salmon,  bacon,  and  stalled  oxen 
brought  from  Ireland.  There  is  something  very  stately  in 
importing  your  own  fat  oxen  as  though  you  were  merely 
sending  for  eggs  from  your  poultry-yard  ! 

With  so  many  coming  and  going,  ^50  a  week  was  found 
to  be  insufficient  to  carry  on  the  house,  and  Lord  Cork  soon 
had  to  increase  his  daughters'  allowance  to  ^200  a  week, 
paid  beforehand. 

The  whole  establishment  reminds  one  of  the  housekeeping 
of  the  '  old  courtier  of  the  Queen,'  who  '  kept  a  brave  old 
house  at  a  bountiful  rate.'  But  unlike  the  indulgent  old 
master  and  mistress  of  the  ballad,  the  old  Earl  knew  very 


302     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF  CORK 

well  indeed  '  what  belonged  to  coachmen,  footmen  and  pages,' 
and  wrote  down  the  rules  for  the  government  of  his  servants 
with  his  own  hand. 

'A  FORM  FOR  THE  GOVERNMENT  OF  THE  EARL  OF  CORK'S 
FAMILY  AT  STALBRiDGE.1 

*  i .  First,  All  the  Servants  except  such  as  are  Officers  or 

are  otherwise  employed  shall  meet  every  morning 
before  Dinner,  and  every  night  after  Supper,  at 
Prayer. 

'  2.  That  there  be  Lodgings  fitting  for  all  the  Earl  of  Cork's 
Servants  to  lie  in  the  house. 

*  3.  That  it  shall  be  lawful  for  the  Steward  to  examine  any 

Subordinate  Servant  of  the  whole  Family  concerning 
any  Complaint  or  Misdemeanour  committed,  and  to 
dismiss  and  put  away  any  inferior  Servant  that  shall 
live  dissolutely  and  disorderly  either  in  the  House 
or  abroad,  without  the  especial  Command  of  the 
Earl  of  Cork  to  the  contrary. 

'  4.  That  there  be  a  certain  number  of  the  Gentlemen 
appointed  to  sit  at  the  Steward's  Table,  and  the 
like  at  the  Waiter's  Table,  and  the  rest  to  sit  in 
the  Hall  at  the  Long  Table. 

*  5.  That  there  be  a  Clerk  of  the  Kitchen  to  take  care  of 

such  Provision  as  is  brought  into  the  House,  and 
to  have  an  especial  eye  to  the  several  Tables  that 
are  kept  either  above  Stairs,  or  in  the  Kitchen 
and  other  places. 

'  6.  That  all  the  Women  Servants  under  the  Degree  of 
Chambermaids  be  certainly  known  by  their  names 
to  the  Steward,  and  not  altered  or  changed  upon 

1  Add.MSS.,  19,832,  f.  23. 


A   HAVEN   OF   REFUGE  303 

every  Occasion  without  the  consent  of  the  Steward, 
and  no  Schorers l  to  be  admitted  in  the  house. 
'  7.  That  the  Officers  every  Friday  night  bring  in  their 
Bills  unto  the  Steward  whereby  he  may  collect  what 
hath  been  spent,  and  what  remains  weekly  in  the 
House. 

*  Indorsed  :  Thomas  Cross  his  Orders  for  the  Keeping  of 
the  House.' 

The  younger  servants  of  the  household  were  formally 
apprenticed  to  their  trade  ;  a  poor  ragged  boy,  John  Wilmot, 
was  indentured  for  nine  years  to  learn  to  become  a  cook,  and 
a  garden  boy  was  indentured  for  five  years,  receiving  £$ 
wages  and  a  suit  of  clothes.  The  footmen  received  livery 
as  well  as  wages,  and  the  household  musicians  were  dressed 
in  scarlet. 

With  so  many  visitors  to  Stalbridge  from  London  and 
Munster  as  well  as  from  foreign  countries,  it  soon  struck 
Lord  Cork's  country  neighbours  that  he  could  conveniently 
be  used  as  a  banker.  Wherever  he  was,  the  chief  currents 
of  life  seemed  to  flow  his  way,  and  now  in  his  retirement  he 
noted  '  Mr.  James  Smith  of  Torrington  hath  this  day,  though 
I  never  knew  him  or  heard  of  him  before,  brought  me  hither 
^200  with  request  to  receive  it  and  give  him  my  bill  of 
exchange  to  be  repaid  at  Lismore,  which  I  did,'  and  two 
gentlemen  going  over  to  Munster  to  buy  cattle  gave  him 
^100  to  be  repaid  in  Ireland  on  his  bond. 

And  so  the  St.  Luke's  summer  of  Lord  Cork's  life  set  in, 
and  after  the  season  of  visits  and  country  rides  came  a  jovial 
Christmas  at  Stalbridge,  and  a  wonderful  array  of  New  Year's 

1  Beggars  ? 


3o4     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

gifts  ;  Lady  Dungarvan's  gloves  lined  with  marten's  fur,  and 
Lord  Kildare's  '  pantables  overlaid  with  gold,'  were  chosen 
with  kindly  thought  for  the  old  Earl's  comfort,  and  his  lady 
friends  overwhelmed  him  with  home-made  medicines.  Lady 
Stafford  sent  a  little  bottle  of  spirits  of  amber,  sovereign 
against  the  palsy,  which  the  Earl's  servant,  William  Chettle, 
was  to  keep  in  his  charge.  Lady  Stafford  also  sent  a  bezoir 
stone,  and  the  Countess  of  Kent  three  balls  of  cordial.  The 
good  Countess  of  Bristol  bestowed  on  him  a  ball  of  country 
*  yeartar,'  but  this  mysterious  remedy  is  not  further  explained. 
Daniel  O'Sullivan,  however,  took  no  thought  of  the  wholesomes 
and  sent  a  '  Runlet  of  pickled  scallops,'  but  these  Lord  Cork 
passed  on  to  the  Countess  of  Manchester.  Lady  Stafford 
made  preparation  for  the  season's  festivities  and  sent  a  bale 
of  dice  and  a  pack  of  cards,  Lord  Dungarvan  gave  his  father 
a  book  called  the  Practice  of  Piety,  and  Lord  Kildare  presented 
his  father-in-law  with  a  fair  Bible,  a  present  he  usually  selected 
when  he  had  been  getting  into  trouble  and  was  promising  to 
reform.  Some  of  the  Earl's  presents  he  passed  on,  as  of  old, 
to  other  friends  ;  '  a  very  curious  French  watch  all  enamelled,' 
that  Lady  Stafford  sent  him,  he  bestowed  on  his  '  vocal  wife, 
Lady  Marie  Fielding/  a  young  lady  who  seems  to  have  held 
the  position  of  the  Earl's  valentine. 

The  most  serious  New  Year's  presents  were  naturally 
those  offered  to  Royalty,  and  in  the  low  state  of  the  King's 
finances  these  became  less  a  present  than  a  tax.  The  ubiqui- 
tous Mr.  Perkins  wrote  to  the  Earl  in  January  1639  tnat 
having  been  to  the  court  to  present  New  Year's  gifts  to  the 
King,  '  the  master  of  the  jewel  house  told  me  it  was  expected 
from  your  Honour  that  you  present  the  King  as  other  Lords 
do.  I  demanded  of  him  if  any  Earls  of  Ireland  did  it,  he 
told  me  yes,  and  assured  me  that  from  My  Lord  of  Cork  it 


A   HAVEN   OF   REFUGE 


305 


was  expected  upon  his  own  knowledge  ;  and  further  told  me, 
he  would  see  your  Lordship  had  a  bill  of  impost  of  eight 
tun  of  wine  for  your  housekeeping.  If  your  Lordship  please 
to  think  well  of  it,  it  will  be  acceptable  to  the  King,  and  the 
charge  will  be  borne  by  the  remuneration  that  his  Majesty 
bestows  upon  you  back  again.' 


u 


CHAPTER    XVIII 

ETON    GENTLEMEN 
1635—1639 

*  While  some  on  earnest  business  bent 

Their  murmuring  labours  ply, 
'Gainst  graver  hours  that  bring  constraint 

To  sweeten  liberty, 
Some  bold  adventurers  disdain 
The  limits  of  their  little  reign.' 

GRAY,  Ode  on  a  distant  prospect  oj  Eton  College. 

IT  is  to  the  Earl  of  Cork's  youngest  son  that  we  owe  our 
knowledge  of  the  Earl's  theory  of  education,  for  Robert 
Boyle  himself,  under  the  pseudonym  of  Philaretus,  has  left 
us  a  charming  little  sketch  of  his  own  youth.1 

He  relates  that  his  father  had  a  perfect  aversion  for  the 
prudence  '  that  would  breed  children  so  nice  and  tender  that 
a  hot  sun  or  a  good  shower  of  rain  endangers  them  as  though 
they  were  made  of  butter  or  sugar.'  '  He  therefore  intrusted 
his  children  to  country  nurses '  ;  that  is  to  say,  like  most 
children  of  the  time  they  were  sent  to  the  house  of  native 
foster-parents,  where,  as  old  Aubrey  heard  tell,  Robert  was 
'  nursed  Irish  fashion,  in  a  pendulous  satchell  instead  of  a 
cradle,  with  a  slit  for  the  child's  head  to  look  out  of 

Many  of  the  Munster  gentry  left  their  children  so  long 
with  the  foster-parents,  that  the  little  heirs  grew  up  '  sons  of 
the  soil,'  knowing  nothing  of  the  language  or  position  of 

1  Boyle's  Works,  \.  7-9  ;  edit.  1774. 


./I  Of'*/'/        . 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  307 

their  real  parents  ;  but  the  Earl  of  Cork  brought  Robert 
home  as  soon  as  the  time  for  lessons  came,  and  he,  with  his 
three  elder  brothers,  was  educated  by  his  father's  chaplain, 
Mr.  Wilkins,  who  taught  him,  he  says,  all  the  Latin  he 
forgot  at  Eton,  while  French  they  learned  from  a  French 
tutor  who  bore  the  strangely  English  name  of  Mr.  Francois 
de  Gary  !  In  1 63 1  Lord  Cork  presented  this  gentleman 
with  a  black  silk  cloak  and  suit  lined  with  taffeta  and  laced 
with  embroidered  satin. 

Robert  says  he  ever  reckoned  it  among  the  chief  mis- 
fortunes of  his  life  '  that  he  did  never  know  her  that  gave  it 
him.'  '  Her  free  and  noble  spirit  had  a  handsome  mansion 
to  reside  in,  making  her  so  hugely  regretted  by  her  children 
and  so  lamented  by  her  husband.'  No  doubt  it  was  for  want 
of  his  mother's  care  that  little  Robin,  as  he  was  called,  got 
into  a  habit  of  stammering,  picked  up  from  mimicking  some 
children  with  whom  he  played.  He  improved  in  '  smoothness 
of  speaking '  when  he  went  to  school,  yet  even  after  he  had 
grown  to  be  a  big  boy  he  was  so  unable  to  speak  when  excited 
that  his  tutor  wrote  '  he  could  scarce  forbear  laughing  at  him.' 

But  in  all  other  respects  Robin  was  a  pride  and  delight  to 
his  father.  He  says  himself  he  does  not  know  if  he  was  the 
favourite  because  he  was  the  youngest,  or  if  it  was  because 
he  was  not  of  an  age  to  run  into  debt  and  trouble  the  Earl 
as  his  elder  sons  did.  But  he  admits  that  his  studiousness 
greatly  endeared  him  to  his  father,  who  also  was  wont  to  say 
he  never  knew  Robin  tell  a  lie.  Robert's  own  remembrance 
of  one  instance  of  his  childish  truthfulness  is  quite  as  pretty 
an  anecdote  as  the  threadbare  tale  of  Washington's  cherry- 
tree.  He  modestly  tells  it  of  himself  in  the  third  person. 

'As  there  was  scarce  anything  he  more  greedily  desired 
than  to  know  the  truth,  so  there  was  scarce  anything  he  more 


308     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

perfectly  detested  than  not  to  speak  it ;  which  brings  into  my 
mind  a  foolish  story  I  have  heard  him  jeered  with  by  his  sister, 
my  Lady  Ranelagh,  how  she  having  given  strict  order  to  have  a 
fruit-tree  preserved  for  his  sister-in-law,  the  Lady  Dungarvan, 
he,  accidentally  coming  into  the  garden  and  ignoring  the  pro- 
hibition, did  eat  half  a  score  of  them,  for  which  he,  being 
chidden  by  his  sister  Ranelagh,  for  he  was  yet  a  child,  and 
being  told  by  way  of  aggravation  that  he  had  eaten  half  a 
dozen  plums,  "  Nay,  truly,  sister,"  answers  he  simply  to  her, 
"I  have  eaten  half  a  score." 

Lord  Cork  had  sent  his  second  and  third  sons  to  be 
educated  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin,  but  as  he  found  the 
results  anything  but  satisfactory,  he  decided  that  the  two 
youngest  boys  should  follow  their  brother-in-law  Barrymore 
to  Eton.  He  told  of  their  departure  from  home  in  his  diary 
for  September  1635  :  'This  day,  the  great  God  of  Heaven 
bless,  protect,  and  guide  them,  I  sent  my  two  youngest  sons, 
Francis  and  Robert  Boyle,  with  Carew  their  servant,  under 
the  charge  of  my  servant,  Thomas  Badnedge,  from  Lismore 
to  Youghal  to  embark  for  England  to  be  schooled  and  bred 
at  Eton,  as  my  worthy  friend,  Sir  Henry  Wotton,  Provost 
of  Eton,  shall  direct  and  order,  to  whom  I  wrote  for  that 
purpose.  I  gave  Badnedge  ,£50  in  ready  money  at  his  de- 
parture to  defray  their  charges,  and  my  letter  of  credit  to 
the  now  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  to  supply  him  with  any 
monies  he  should  demand,  not  exceeding  ^300,  and  I  gave 
£3  to  my  sons.' 

The  little  fellows,  who  were  making  their  first  venture 
from  home,  were  aged  twelve  and  eight.  Robert  remembered 
afterwards  that  they  had  to  wait  a  week  at  Youghal  for  a 
favourable  wind,  and  then  on  starting  were  beaten  back  again 
and  had  to  wait  yet  another  week  before  they  could  set  sail. 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  309 

They  touched  on  their  voyage  at  '  Ilford  Combe '  and  Mine- 
head,  and  landed  safely  at  Bristol.  On  the  23rd  of  October 
their  father  chronicled,  '  Badnedge  delivered  the  boys  to  my 
worthy  friend  and  countryman,  Sir  H.  Wotton,  and  the  tuition 
of  Mr.  John  Harrison,  chief  schoolmaster.  God  bless  and 
prosper  them  in  true  religion  and  learning.' 

Sir  Henry  Wotton,  the  statesman  and  scholar,  will  be  long 
remembered  for  his  biting  pun,  that  '  an  ambassador  was  an 
honest  man  sent  to  lie  abroad  for  his  country's  good.'  His 
shrewd  wit  no  doubt  helped  to  endear  him  to  the  Earl  of 
Cork,  who  loved  a  jest ;  but  the  two  great  men  were  especially 
drawn  to  each  other  as  both  had  been  born  in  Kent,  Sir 
Henry,  in  his  letters  to  Cork,  constantly  signing  himself 
'  a  humble  devoted  servant  with  the  old  Kentish  plainness.' 
Wotton,  it  has  been  said,  was  not  only  a  fine  gentleman 
himself,  but  was  also  skilled  in  making  others  so  ;  he  was 
wont  to  pick  out  the  most  hopeful  scholars  under  his  care 
and  have  them  to  attend  him  at  his  meals,  fout  of  whose 
discourse  and  behaviour  he  gathered  observations  for  the 
better  completing  of  his  intended  work  on  education.' x  The 
Boyle  brothers  were  often  honoured  by  the  Provost's  invitation 
to  dine  at  High  Table,  where  he  took  much  notice  of  them, 
and  was  loath  to  have  to  tell  Lady  Dungarvan  when  her 
favourite,  '  sweet  spirited  Frank,'  was  not  in  strong  health. 

Robert  had  but  just  reached  the  age  when,  according  to 
the  original  statutes,  students  might  be  admitted  to  Eton. 
He  and  his  brother  were  entered  as  commensals,  that  is  to  say, 
they  received  their  education  in  grammar  free  with  the  scholars 
on  the  foundation,  but  paid  for  their  other  expenses.  They 
dined  in  hall  at  the  second  table  with  the  chaplain,  the  second 
master,  or  usher,  and  the  '  upper  clerks  who  were  skilled  in 

1  Walton. 


310    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF  CORK 

chaimt.*  They  were  waited  on  by  the  lower  clerks  and 
thirteen  poor  lads  or  servitors,  who  were  being  prepared  to 
take  holy  orders  or  become  transcribers  of  books.  During 
dinner  one  of  the  scholars  read  aloud  from  the  Bible  or  the 
Lives  of  the  Fathers.  After  the  Loving  Cup  had  gone  round, 
every  one  was  commanded  to  leave  the  hall  without  loitering, 
for  as  the  statutes  wisely  say,  men  are  more  quarrelsome  on 
full  stomachs  than  on  empty ;  but  on  saints'  days  and  festivals 
there  was  a  fire  in  hall,  and  the  scholars  and  fellows  were 
allowed  to  divert  themselves  with  songs  and  other  proper 
amusements,  and  to  discuss  poems  and  the  wonders  of  the 
world.1  Eton  Montem  was  in  full  swing  in  those  glorious 
days,  and  the  boys  had  other  festivals  ;  on  New  Year's  Day, 
when  they  played  for  little  gifts,  and  on  Shrove  Tuesday, 
when  verses  in  praise  of  Bacchus  were  composed,  a  theme 
which  some  of  the  young  poets  found  so  inspiring  that 
Mr.  Pepys  saw  them  fill  up  rolls  of  paper  as  long  as  the 
College  Hall  !  On  May  Day  the  Eton  boys  went  out  into 
the  woods  to  fetch  home  branches  of  hawthorn,  after  the 
headmaster  had  solemnly  cautioned  them  not  to  wet  their 
feet ;  and  in  September  they  all  went  out  nutting,  and  brought 
home  part  of  their  spoils  to  offer  to  the  masters. 

The  Boyles  were  known  in  college  as  'a  Boyle'  and 
'Boyle  i,'  the  latter  being  Robert.  At  this  time  many 
noblemen  were  taking  advantage  of  the  permission  granted 
by  the  Eton  authorities  and  were  entering  their  sons  as  com- 
mensals. Among  the  Boyles'  schoolfellows  were  Lord  Henry 
Ker,  Lord  Mordaunt,  and  the  four  sons  of  the  Earl  of 
Northampton.  All  the  students,  commensals  as  well  as 
collegers,  wore  black  frieze  gowns,  but  Mr.  Perkins  sent 
down  very  gay  clothes  to  be  worn  by  Lord  Cork's  sons  ; 

1  Maxwell  Lyte,  Hist.  Eton  Col.,  500. 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  311 

possibly  it  was  in  the  Montem  procession,  or  on  some 
holiday  junketing  up  to  London  to  visit  Lord  Dungarvan, 
that  Francis  and  Robert  appeared  in  their  scarlet  suits  with 
laced  bands,  or  glittered  in  cloth  of  silver  doublets. 

The  commensals  did  not  live  in  Long  Chamber  with  the 
collegers,  but  had  rooms  in  the  house  of  the  Provost  or  one 
of  the  Fellows,  which  they  furnished  themselves  and  where 
they  were  waited  on  by  their  own  servants.  The  heir  of  Lord 
Tyrone  had  come  to  Eton  attended  by  a  regular  suite,  but 
the  Boyles  appear  to  have  been  content  with  the  services  of 
young  Gary  or  Carew,  who  was  half  tutor,  half  valet,  and 
altogether  scamp. 

Robert  Boyle  soon  became  a  great  favourite  with  Mr. 
Harrison,  the  headmaster ;  in  his  autobiography  he  relates 
that  Mr.  Harrison  *  would  often  dispense  with  his  attendance 
at  school  at  the  accustomed  hours,  that  he  might  instruct  him 
privately  in  his  chamber,'  and  '  would  often,  as  it  were,  cloy 
him  with  fruit  and  sweetmeats  and  those  little  dainties  that 
age  is  greedy  of,  that  by  preventing  the  want,  he  might  lessen 
both  the  value  and  the  desire  of  them.  He  would  sometimes 
give  him  unasked  playdays,  and  often  bestow  on  him  such  balls 
and  tops  and  other  implements  as  he  had  taken  away  from 
others  that  had  unduly  used  them.' 

It  speaks  highly  for  Robert's  natural  amiability  and 
modesty  that  he  was  not  spoilt  by  this  unusual  notice  from 
the  headmaster,  and  the  charm  which  he  always  exercised  over 
those  who  knew  him  seems  to  have  prevented  any  jealousy  on 
the  part  of  his  schoolfellows,  so  that  even  Francis  did  not 
rebel  when  his  small  brother  gravely  '  exhorted '  him  to  be 
industrious  over  his  lessons !  Probably  Robert's  own  strong 
sense  of  humour  saved  him  from  becoming  too  hopeless  a 
little  prig. 


312     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

The  first  letter  from  this  most  indulgent  of  headmasters 
to  the  Earl  of  Cork  is  dated  October  19,  1635,  and  sealed  with 
the  familiar  legend  *  Floreat  Etona.' 

'  RIGHT  HONOURABLE, — There  were  brought  hither  to 
Eton  the  second  of  this  present  October,  two  of  your  honour's 
sons,  Francis  and  Robert,  who  as  they  endured  their  journey 
both  by  sea  and  land  beyond  what  a  man  would  expect  from 
such  little  ones,  so  since  their  arrival  here,  the  place  hath 
seemed  to  agree  wondrous  well  with  their  tempers,  and  I  hope 
they  will  grow  every  day  more  and  more  in  a  liking  and  love 
of  it.  The  care  of  their  institution  Mr.  Provost  hath  imposed 
on  me,  by  his  favour  the  Rector  at  the  present  of  this  school. 
I  will  carefully  see  them  supplied  with  such  things  as  their 
occasion  in  college  shall  require,  and  endeavour  to  set  them 
forward  in  learning  the  best  I  can.  And  so,  forbearing  to  be 
any  further  troublesome  to  your  Lordship  at  this  time,  I  rest, 
your  honour's  humble  servant,  JOHN  HARRISON.' 

Francis  also  wrote  to  tell  his  father  of  their  arrival.  His 
beautifully  written  epistle  is  dated  the  iyth  of  October. 
It  is  as  formally  correct  as  any  good  little  boy's  letter  could 
be,  and  he  loved  letter-writing  as  little  as  any  other  schoolboy. 
Fortunately  Cary  had  an  Irish  readiness  of  pen  and  tongue, 
and  lightened  the  task  of  correspondence  for  his  two  charges. 

'  Francis  Boyle  to  his  father,  October  17,  1635  : — 

'  DEAR  FATHER, — With  bended  knees  and  hearty  prayers 
I  importune  the  Almighty  for  a  long  continuance  of  your 
health  and  happiness,  and  that  I  may  not  be  deprived  of  so 
great  a  felicity  as  your  blessings,  which  I  do  most  earnestly 
crave:  and  as  for  news  which  your  Lordship  will  expect  from 
me,  I  have  scarce  any,  but  some  things  which  I  observed  in 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  313 

my  travels  which  I  will  leave  to  the  bearer's  relation,  in  regard 
I  am  incited  by  my  school  exercise.  Only  I  must  humbly 
entreat  your  Honour  to  take  notice  of  this  kindness  of  Sir 
Henry  Wotton  toward  us,  and  how  lovingly  he  did  entreat 
us  and  entertained  us  this  first  day  of  entrance  at  his  own 
table.  He  hath  also  lent  us  a  chamber  of  his  own  with  a 
bed  furnished,  afore  our  own  will  be  furnished,  all  which  I 
leave  to  your  Lordship's  consideration. 

'  We  are  much  bound  to  the  young  Lords,  and  especially  to 
the  Earl  of  Peterborough's  son,  with  whom  we  dine  and  sup. 
My  other  occasions  call  me  away,  therefore  I  beg  pardon  for 
not  imparting  more  of  my  mind,  but  must  remain  your  most 
obedient  son  to  command,  FRANCIS  BOYLE. 

'We  have  been  kindly  used  by  Mr.  Badnedge  in  all  our 
travels,  and  he  sent  us  linen  after  our  coming  here,  for  which 
we  are  much  bound  unto  him.' 

Francis  having  evidently  exhausted  his  stock  of  elegant 
phrases  in  this  epistle,  left  it  to  Gary  to  give  all  the  real 
information  about  their  position,  as  follows  : — 

*  Robert  Gary  to  the  Earl  of  Cork.     October  19,  1635  : — 
'  I  pray  deliver  this  in  the  sign  of  the  Ship  in  Fleet  Street 

at  Mr.  Perkins'  house  to  be  conveyed  to  Ireland  by  Mr. 

Badnedge  or  his  man. 

'  RIGHT  HONOURABLE, — Whereas  I  am  hereunto  induced 
by  the  importunateness  of  my  masters,  I  do  not  only  implore 
your  honourable  acceptance,  but  beg  a  pardon  for  so  high  a 
presumption.  .  .  .  They  are  very  well  beloved  by  their  civil 
and  transparent  carriage  towards  all  sorts,  and  especially  my 
sweet  Sir  Robert,  who  gained  the  love  of  all.  Sir  Harry 


3i4    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

Wotton  was  much  taken  with  him  for  his  discourse  of  Ireland 
and  of  his  travels,  and  he  admired  that  he  would  observe  or 
take  notice  of  those  things  that  he  discoursed  of.  He  is 
mighty  courteous  and  loving  towards  them,  and  lent  a  chamber 
furnished,  until  we  could  furniture  so  their  own  chamber  ;  we 
enjoy  it  yet,  which  is  a  great  favour  ;  and  did  invite  my 
masters  to  his  own  table  several  times.  Thanks  be  to  God 
they  're  very  jocund,  and  they  have  a  studious  desire  whereby 
in  short  time  they  will  attain  to  learning.  They  have  very 
careful  and  reverend  masters.  It  is  their  only  grievance  to 
be  exempted  from  your  Lordship's  sight  and  the  society  of 
their  brothers  and  sisters. 

*  Touching  my  masters'  essence,  they  dine  in  the  hall  with 
the  rest  of  the  boarders,  where  sit  the  Earl  of  Southampton's 
four  sons,  the  Earl  of  Peterborough's  two  sons,  with  other 
knights'  sons.     They  sit  promiscuously,  not  observing  of  any 
place  or  quality,  and   at   night   they  sup  in  their   chambers, 
but  my  masters,  in  regard  our  chamber  is  not  furnished,  do 
sup  with   my   Lord   Mordaunt,   the   Earl  of  Peterborough's 
son,  where   they  are   most   kindly  entertained,  but  we   have 
our  own  commons  brought  thither  ;  yet  they  take  it  a  great 
kindness  to  be  so  lovingly  used,  they  are  very  familiar  with 
one   another.     And,  my  Lord,  there   is   to   be   observed  the 
fasting  nights,  whereupon  the  college  allow  no  meat,  Fridays 
and  Saturdays.     We  must  upon  those  nights  have  the  cook's 
meat,  which  is  sometimes  mighty  dear,  for  we  must  have  his 
own  rate,  not  the  college  price,  as  also  for  breakfast,  for  every 
day  they  have  a  poor  breakfast  at  two  pennys  apiece.     This 
will  come  to  money,  beside  their  chambers,  accoutrements  and 
clothes  which  your  Lordship  must  furnish  them  withall. 

*  The  school  exercise  would  admit  no  vacancy  (vacant  time 
to  write)  for  my  master  Robert  to  present  his  duty  to  your 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  315 

Honour,  for  they  are  up  every  morning  at  a  half-hour  before 
six,  and  so  to  school  to  prayers,  and  their  hours  for  writing 
be  these,  from  nine  to  ten  in  the  morning  and  from  five  to 
six  in  the  evening.' 

It  will  be  noticed  how  much  finer  the  servant's  language  is 
than  that  of  the  Earl  and  his  friends  :  '  my  masters'  essence ' 
is  worthy  of  Dogberry  himself. 

He  writes  again  a  little  later  to  tell  more  of  their  doings. 
His  description  of  Robert's  theatrical  debut  reminds  us  that 
plays  were  part  of  the  usual  festivities  of  an  Eton  Christmas, 
and  a  box  of  players'  clothes  kept  in  the  masters'  room.  The 
plays  were  usually  in  Latin,  but  sometimes  a  witty  English 
piece  was  chosen.1 

Gary  mentions  that  he  had  been  alarmed  about  his 
employer's  health  by  the  '  relations  of  malicious  informers,' 
two  Irish  vagabonds  having  spread  a  report  that  Lord  Cork 
was  dangerously  ill.  *  I  concealed  it  from  my  masters,  but  at 
last  they  had  some  intelligence  of  it  which  made  them  much 
to  lament  if  I  had  not  encouraged  them,  for  my  hope  was  in 
the  Almighty  whose  favour  I  perpetually  wish  unto  your 
Honour  in  soul  and  body.  ...  As  for  my  masters'  private 
and  public  devotion,  their  civil  and  courteous  carriage  towards 
all  men  accordingly,  their  neatness  in  apparel,  combing,  and 
washing,  and  my  tender  care  of  their  health  and  prosperity  in 
learning  and  all  other  noble  education,  I  leave  to  the  appro- 
bation of  their  noble  friends  Sir  Harry  Wotton  and  Mr. 
Harrison,  whose  vigilant  care  over  them  requires  no  less  than 
your  honourable  favour,  and  my  masters  do  in  all  matters 
obey  and  observantly  perform  their  mandates.  .  .  .  They  will 
neither  chop  nor  change  a  book  nor  any  thing  that  is  theirs 

1  Maxwell  Lyte. 


316     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

without  my  consent,  who  will  not  see  any  disadvantage  or 
deceit  used  against  them.  .  .  .  Mr.  Francis  is  grown  mighty 
tall  since  he  came  hither  and  very  proportionable  in  his  limbs, 
graciously  imitating  that  brave  patron  of  virtue  my  Lord 
Dungarvan,  more  and  more  ;  he  is  not  so  much  given  to  his 
books  as  my  most  honoured  and  affectionate  Mr.  Robert, 
who  loseth  no  hour  without  a  line  of  his  idle  time,  but  on 
schooldays  he  doth  compose  his  exercises  as  well  as  them 
of  double  his  years  and  experience.  They  are  under  the 
tuition  of  the  usher  in  regard  they  were  placed  in  the  third 
form  ;  a  careful  man  he  is,  yet  I  thank  God  I  have  gained 
their  love  so  far  that  I  can  get  them  to  do  more  than  their 
school  exercise  in  the  chamber,  and  am  authorised  to  do  so  by 
Mr.  Harrison,  who  sees  that  they  do  so  with  much  willingness 
and  facility.  They  write  every  day  most  commonly  a  copy  of 
the  French  and  Latin  besides  their  versions  and  dictaments 
[dictations  ?]  more  than  any  two  of  their  rank  in  the  school 
can  do.  They  practise  the  French  and  Latin,  but  they  affect 
not  the  Irish  notwithstanding  I  show  many  reasons  to  bind 
their  minds  thereto.  Mr.  Robert  sometimes  desires  it  and  is 
a  little  entered  in  it.  He  is  grown  very  fat  and  very  jovial 
and  pleasantly  merry,  and  of  the  rarest  memory  that  I  ever 
knew  ;  he  prefers  learning  afore  all  other  virtues  or  pleasures. 
Mr.  Provost  doth  admire  him  for  his  excellent  genius.  He 
was  chosen  in  a  play  the  28th  of  November.  He  came  upon 
the  stage ;  he  had  but  a  mute  part,  but  for  the  gesture  of  his 
body  and  order  of  his  pace  he  did  bravely.  .  .  .  Mr.  Francis 
is  sickly,  which  is  a  grievous  thing  for  me  to  relate,  but  praises 
be  to  God,  it 's  no  vehement  sickness  whereat  your  Lordship 
should  conclude  any  grief.  It  did  proceed  from  a  cold  that 
he  took  in  school,  for  his  clothes  are  very  little  for  him,  he 
growing  so,  blessed  be  God.  And  he  writ  divers  times  to 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  317 

Mr.  Perkins  for  a  new  suit,  yet  we  can  see  none  come,  for 
Mr.  Badnedge  told  him  they  had  sufficient  clothes  as  he  doth 
allege,  which  was  an  ungrateful  office.  His  sickness  continueth 
these  sixteen  days,  yet  did  not  hinder  him  of  writing  and 
studying  in  his  chamber,  being  kept  warm.  He  is  very 
pleasant  and  merry  and  wants  no  kind  of  attendance  nor 
comfort  and  good  counsel  from  Sir  Harry  Wotton.  ...  Sir 
Harry  Wotton  hath  made  choice  of  a  very  sufficient  man l 
to  teach  them  to  play  on  the  viol  and  sing  ;  he  doth  also 
undertake  to  help  my  master  Robert's  defect  in  pronunciation, 
which  is  a  principal  reason  that  they  should  bestow  any  hours 
in  that  faculty,  for  it  is  a  thing  that  elevates  the  spirits  and 
may  hinder  their  proceedings  in  matters  of  greater  moment. 
Here  are  two  Frenchmen,  the  one  waiting  on  one  of  Lord 
Dover's  sons,  the  other  on  the  Earl  of  Northampton's  sons, 
and  men  of  good  life  and  conversation,  and  God  being  pleased 
I  shall  make  choice  of  one  with  Mr.  Provost's  approbation 
after  Christmas  ;  in  the  meantime  they  shall  do  as  they  did 
hitherto,  read  a  chapter  most  commonly  every  night  in  a 
French  testament  afore  they  go  to  bed,  besides  their  private 
prayers.  I  get  the  one  to  read  in  the  English  testament  and 
th'  other  in  the  French,  and  so  mutually  as  may  appear.  God 
forbid  that  I  would  relate  anything  to  my  most  honoured 
Lord  and  best  benefactor  but  the  plain  truth.  Mr.  Badnedge 
kept  a  Bible  that  the  virtuous  Lady  Dungarvan  sent  to  my 
master  Francis,  which  I  am  nothing  capable  of.' 

Probably  the  other  members  of  the  Earl  of  Cork's  house- 
hold felt  some  jealousy  of  his  Lordship's  prime  favourite, 
Badnedge,  and  Cary  never  let  slip  a  chance  of  a  sly  hit  at  him. 
A  little  later  on  Lady  Dungarvan  and  Lady  Barrymore 
were  of  the  same  way  of  thinking,  and  got  their  housekeeping 

1  Said  in  a  letter  of  Sir  Henry's  to  be  the  Master  of  the  Choristers. 


3i 8     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

accounts  into  sad  confusion  through  their  dislike  to  employing 
the  paragon  Badnedge. 

It  will  be  seen  that  the  boys  took  private  lessons  in  French 
and  music,  the  regular  school- work  being  of  course  classical. 
They  used  the  time-honoured  grammars  which  have  survived 
to  the  present  day,  the  Eton  Greek  grammar  having  been 
introduced  by  Wotton's  predecessor,  Savile,  and  the  Eton 
Latin  Grammar  having  been  compiled  by  the  famous  Lilly  in 
the  time  of  Henry  vm.  Robert  remembered  that  it  was  his 
chance  reading  of  Quintus  Curtius  that  *  conjured  up  in  him 
that  unsatisfied  appetite  of  knowledge  that  is  yet  as  greedy  as 
when  it  first  was  raised.' 

The  exact  order  of  the  day's  study  in  the  seventeenth 
century  has  not  been  recorded,  but  in  the  conservative  Royal 
College  it  probably  varied  little  from  the  routine  in  Elizabeth's 
day,  when  the  boys  rose  at  five,  and  at  six  o'clock  the  usher 
read  prayers  in  school.  At  seven  the  headmaster  came  in, 
and  work  went  on  till  nine,  when  there  was  an  hour's  interval 
before  ten  o'clock  chapel,  and  probably  the  boys  breakfasted, 
as  Cary  mentions  Robert  having  once  made  himself  ill  by 
going  to  church  without  his  breakfast.  At  eleven  o'clock 
came  dinner,  and  at  noon  they  went  into  school  again  till  three, 
when  there  was  an  hour's  play,  known  to-day  as  '  after  four.' 
Then  came  an  hour's  work,  and  supper  at  five.  Preparation 
lasted  from  six  to  eight,  relieved  by  a  *  bever '  of  bread  and 
beer  at  seven,  and  all  went  to  bed  at  eight. 

In  January  Cary  explains  that  he  cannot  give  an  exact 
account  of  the  boys'  yearly  expenses,  as  '  I  was  not  thereto 
authorised  by  Mr.  Badnedge  who  had  power  from  your  Honour 
to  manage  all  my  masters'  affairs,'  but  he  has  entered  all  the 
expenses  he  knows  of  in  his  book.  The  list  of  necessaries 
for  the  schoolboys  is  rather  interesting.  Mr.  Perkins  supplied 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  319 

the  bedding,  '  one  fleild  bedd  '  (perhaps  camp  bed  ?),  '  curtains 
and  valance  of  blew  perpetiana,'  a  feather  bed,  bolster,  two 
pillows,  four  pillow  covers  and  two  pairs  of  sheets.  One  rug, 
two  blankets,  two  table  cloths  and  a  dozen  of  diaper  dinner 
napkins,  the  latter  very  needful  as  no  forks  are  given  in  the 
list.  Two  knives,  two  spoons,  a  tankard,  a  salt  cellar,  and 
two  pewter  porringers  and  a  dozen  trenchers  furnished  their 
table,  with  three  pewter  dishes  bought  by  Mr.  Harrison. 
Their  bedroom  also  was  supplied  with  a  looking-glass  and  six 
towels,  a  brush  and  two  wooden  combs,  two  stools,  two  chairs, 
a  carpet  '  suitable  to  the  bed,'  fire-irons,  shovel  and  tongs, 
bellows  and  snuffers.  Mr.  Gary  had  a  flock-bed,  a  bolster, 
two  coarse  pairs  of  sheets,  a  rug  and  two  blankets,  and 
doubtless  slept  on  a  truckle  bedstead  in  the  corner  of  his 
young  masters'  chamber. 

The  commons  were  at  the  rate  of  five  and  sixpence  a  week, 
besides  the  extra  suppers  on  fasting  nights,  which  possibly  varied 
according  to  the  chances  of  getting  fish.  Their  breakfasts  were 
fourpence  a  day,  the  washing  sixteen  shillings  a  quarter.  Rent 
of  chamber  £  5  a  year.  Wood  and  coals  are  a  heavy  item, 
Mr.  Harrison  laid  out  thirty-four  and  sixpence  on  them. 
'  Candles  I  received  from  Mr.  Harrison  sixteen  pound,  and 
thinks  myself  very  sparing  in  not  spending  more,  for  this 
month  past  was  an  expensive  time  for  candles,  by  reason  of  a 
sport  they  use  in  the  hall  every  night  and  every  recent  [comer] 
must  find  candles.  For  my  masters,  a  half  pound  every  night 
and  on  play  nights  a  whole  pound.  For  their  tuition  the 
ordinary  custom  is  ten  shillings  a  piece,  yet  they  leave  it  to 
your  honourable  bounty.' 

When  Lent  came  the  boys  boarded  at  the  usher's  in  the 
town  at  seven  and  sixpence  a  week  apiece,  for  no  meat  was 
dressed  in  the  college  in  Lent.  '  Mr.  Provost  bids  that  they 


320     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

and  the  Lord  Mordant  should  dine  and  sup  together  and  I 
will  not  be  against  it,  but  I  know  there  may  be  something 
saved  without  any  prejudice  to  their  honour  if  they  had  been 
private  in  their  own  chamber.' 

Gary  writes,  Feb.  29,  1636,  to  'inform  your  Lordship  in 
some  measure  '  of  the  boys'  dispositions. 

'  Mr.  Francis,  who  is  endued  with  the  excellentest  dis- 
position that  was  created  in  man,  even  his  meekness  of  heart 
causeth  such  a  bashfulness  in  him  that  he  is  not  able  to  make 
any  outward  expression  of  his  good  intention  to  anybody — he 
hath  indeed  diverse  times  hidden  from  me,  who  am  his  most 
humble  respective  and  transparent  servant,  those  things  that 
would  be  better  discovered,  as  being  in  a  fit  of  extreme  pain 
he  concealed  it  from  me  for  no  other  reason  as  he  afterwards 
confessed,  but  because  I  took  it  so  grievously,  and  told  me  if 
he  had  seen  me  cry  it  would  add  to  his  grief.  .  .  .  He  is 
grown  in  tallness  very  much,  and  straight  but  poor  in  body. 
He  is  of  sweet  and  decent  carriage,  comely  in  visage  and  a 
lover  of  pious  books  and  of  the  scripture.  He  is  active  in  his 
recreating  exercises,  in  which  Mr.  Provost  commends  him  and 
exhorts  him  thereunto  for  his  bodily  health,  provided  it  be  at 
his  spared  hours.  He  loves  learning,  but  he  is  much  inferior 
to  Mr.  Robert's  virtue,  an  please  your  Honour.  His  body  is 
soon  distempered  either  with  the  alteration  of  diet  or  by 
crossing  his  good  nature,  which  I,  to  prevent  those  motives 
and  his  inclination  to  melancholy,  do  endeavour  to  keep  him 
in  a  temperate  diet,  and  I  spoke  to  his  tutor  to  use  a  cherishing 
not  a  severe  way  in  his  teaching,  which  he  hath  very  well 
observed,  howbeit  there  was  no  occasion  to  the  contrary,  yet 
his  tutor's  love  and  affability  did  encourage  him  to  perform 
his  exercises.  He  is  of  a  quite  apprehensive  wit,  yet  all  his 
delight  is  in  hunting  and  horsemanship,  from  which  desire 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  321 

Mr.  Robert  often  dissuades  him,  and  exhorts  him  to  learning 
in  his  youth,  for,  saith  he,  there  can  be  nothing  more  profitable 
and  honourable,  and  in  such  a  manner  that  your  Lordship 
would  admire  of  it,  or  think  it  incredible  what  flowing  virtues 
my  poor  wit  can  find  in  him.  He  is  wise,  discreet,  learned 
and  devout,  and  not  mere  devotion  as  is  accustomed  in 
children,  but  with  all  sincerity  he  honours  God  and  prefers 
Him  in  all  his  actions.  He  is  of  a  fair  amiable  countenance, 
grown  much  in  thickness  and  tallness  and  very  healthful. 
Praised  be  God,  during  his  residence  here  he  had  but  one  fit 
of  sickness,  which  came  by  a  casualty,  not  any  innate  infirmity. 
The  loth  of  January  he  took  a  conceit  against  his  breakfast, 
as  he  is  always  curious  of  his  meat,  and  would  go  fasting  to 
church.  It  being  a  cold  morning  the  piercing  air  entered  into 
his  tender  stomach  and  caused  a  grievous  griping  for  the  space 
of  two  days,  and  Mr.  Provost  would  have  him  take  physic  ;  but 
I  was  against  it,  and  desired  respite  till  next  day,  and  in  the 
mean  space  he  was  well  recovered,  thanks  be  to  God,  and 
continues,  still  increasing  in  virtues.  His  delight  is  in  his 
learning,  and  as  well  in  all  other  noble  faculties,  for  he  takes 
no  delight  in  playing  with  boys  nor  running  abroad  but  when 
I  wait  on  him,  and  to  talk  Latin  he  hath  much  affected. 
This  quarter  he  learned  to  play  on  music  and  sing,  but  he  could 
not  proceed  far,  for  his  teacher  had  much  employment  abroad 
in  the  country  this  quarter.  My  most  honourable  Lord,  what 
a  happiness  it  is  to  me  to  see  how  lovingly  they  live  together 
that  never  yet  two  ill  words  pass  between  them,  which  is  rare 
to  see,  and  especially  when  the  youngest  exceeds  the  eldest  in 
some  qualities.  Then  most  commonly  there  is  an  emulation 
between  them,  as  I  see  in  this  college  between  two  brothers 
and  nobleman's  sons  ;  there  is  such  envy  between  them  always 
that  their  servants  cannot  live  quietly  for  them,  but  the  peace 

x 


322     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

of  God  is  with  my  masters  :  they  live  in  such  natural  fraternity 
and  amity  that  all  the  college  of  all  degrees  take  notice  of 
them,  and  as  well  for  that  as  for  their  brave  courteous  carriage 
to  all  men,  they  are  highly  respected  and  well  beloved.  And 
there  passed  some  discourse  at  these  grave  fellows'  table  of 
the  college  boarders  how  they  behaved  themselves,  and  the 
Vice-provost,  which  is  my  masters'  landlord,  protested  that 
never  he  saw  sweeter  nor  civiller  gents  in  the  college  than 
Mr.  Boyles.  ...  I  could  not  get  Mr.  Francis  to  write  this 
time,  for  he  alleges  that  his  hand  shakes  as  it  did  at  the  writing 
of  his  last  letter,  and  my  Master  Robert's  thumb  is  sore, 
wherefore  he  could  not  write.'  .  .  .  And  so  their  '  humble 
respective  and  transparent  servant '  had  to  do  his  best  to  fill 
the  gap,  and  please  all  parties. 

Robert  said  in  after  days  that  he  had  never  cared  much 
for  games,  excepting  tennis  and  mall  ;  the  little  philosopher 
would  not  condescend  with  Gray's  schoolboys  '  to  urge  the 
circle's  rolling  speed,'  although  he  did  '  chace  the  flying 
ball.' 

The  Eton  boys  of  the  time  had  Christmas  holidays  ex- 
tending from  the  2Oth  of  December  to  Shrove  Tuesday, 
but  it  does  not  appear  that  many  of  them  went  home.  In 
the  summer  the  scholars  '  being  carried  away  by  the  desire 
of  visiting  their  parents  and  friends '  were  permitted  by  the 
rules  to  take  a  holiday  of  three  weeks  from  Ascension  Day 
to  the  eve  of  Corpus  Christi.1  At  the  time  the  Boyles  came 
to  Eton  the  summer  holidays  had  grown  to  be  a  month  in 
length,  and  the  journey  to  Ireland  was  too  adventurous  a  one 
to  be  lightly  undertaken,  so  the  good  Provost  had  to  arrange 
where  Francis  and  Robert  should  spend  their  vacation.  He 
wrote  to  their  father  in  June  1636  : 2 — 

1  Maxwell  Lyle,  141.  2  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  262. 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  323 

* .  .  .  Concerning  the  two  nearer  pledges  of  your  trust 
under  my  care,  I  received  some  days  since  from  my  Lady 
Goring,  their  sister,  some  few  lines  expressing  a  desire  to 
have  them  with  her  at  this  time  of  our  vacation,  when  our 
school  breaketh  up  two  weeks  before  Whitsuntide  and  pieceth 
again  a  fortnight  after,  which  just  and  kind  motion  was  to  be 
an  absolute  command.  And  so  I  sent  them  to  her  at  Lewes 
in  Sussex,  together  with  the  Captain  of  our  school,  a  well- 
learned  and  well-tempered  boy,  whose  friends  dwell  in  that 
shire,  so  as  he  may  serve  them  both  for  a  good  guide  and 
companion.  It  will  be  a  solace  for  my  Lady,  and  for  them 
a  fine  refreshment.  And  I  am  glad  to  tell  your  Lordship 
that  she  will  see  Frank  in  better  health  and  strength  than 
he  hath  been  in  either  kingdom  before.  And  Robert  will 
entertain  her  with  his  pretty  conceptions  now  a  great  deal 
more  smoothly  than  he  was  wont.  We  expect  them  both 
again  under  God's  favour  on  Saturday  come  seven  night.' 

Cary  wrote  on  the  o,th  of  June  to  describe  the  holidays 
at  Lewes.  '  The  boys,'  he  says,  '  have  been  this  vacation 
with  their  dear  sister,  where  there  was  nothing  wanting  to 
afford  a  good  and  pleasant  entertainment,  if  my  honourable 
Lady  had  not  been  visited  with  her  continual  guest,  grief  and 
melancholy  :  which  is  incurable  while  she  lives  among  those 
unhappy  plants  which  yield  her  nothing  but  vexation  of 
mind,  yea,  have  already  sucked  from  her  all  comfort.  My 
wit  is  not  able  to  make  a  full  relation  of  her  estate,  but  my 
mind  is  capable  of  grief  to  know  the  truth  of  it.  She  prays 
incessantly  that  she  may  enjoy  your  honour's  presence  here, 
as  there.  My  masters  did  comfort  her  as  much  as  they  could, 
but  her  languishing  heart  could  not  receive  much  comfort, 
so  that  it  made  them  cry  often  to  look  upon  her.  They 
were,  since  8th  of  May  until  the  yth  of  this  present,  being 


324     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

admonished  by  Sir  H.  Wotton,  their  tutor  and  schoolmaster, 
who  went  all  into  the  country  this  breaking  time,  to  recreate 
themselves  in  the  country  at  their  pleasure  :  and  it  was  not 
without  some  relation  to  the  book,  for  most  commonly  every 
morning  they  compose  a  piece  of  Latin,  and  sometimes  they 
write  verse,  but  the  rest  of  my  Master  Robert's  time  was 
employed  in  reading  some  pleasant  history,  wherein  he  takes 
no  small  delight,  and  reaps  thereby  much  profit,  for  what  he 
reads  takes  such  impression  in  him  that  it  cannot  easily  get 
away,  and  not  only  the  method,  but  the  same  phrase,  he  runs 
without  book.' 

Unless  the  neighbourhood  of  Lewes  was  still  a  primseval 
forest,  it  is  difficult  to  imagine  what  '  unhappy  plants '  Gary 
alluded  to.  It  is  just  possible  however  that  he  wrote 
c  plaints '  for  '  complaints,'  and  Dr.  Grosart  failed  to  decipher 
the  abbreviation.  '  The  pleasant  histories '  to  which  Gary 
alludes  were  doubtless  Amadis  de  Gaul  and  other  romances 
which  Robert  had  been  given  to  read,  to  while  away  the 
hours  when  sick  with  the  ague.  In  later  life  he  considered 
that  he  had  wasted  too  much  time  over  such  idle  reading ; 
it  may  seem  to  us  that  it  was  not  entirely  waste  of  time 
to  cultivate  the  imagination  of  which  he  afterwards  made 
such  a  *  scientific  use,'  but  he  declares  these  '  fabulous  and 
wandering  stories '  so  unsettled  his  mind  that  he  became 
unable  to  fix  it  on  any  work,  and  only  succeeded  in  curbing 
his  volatile  fancy  by  extracting  cube  and  square  roots  and 
working  at  algebra. 

This  ague  Robert  had  caught  during  a  visit  to  Lord 
Dungarvan  in  London,  which  seems  at  that  time  to  have 
been  as  constantly  the  home  of  malaria  as  of  the  plague. 
All  that  the  doctors  could  prescribe  had  no  effect,  and  even 
the  Queen's  physician  could  only  suggest  his  being  sent  back 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  325 

to  Eton  to  try  the  effect  of  good  diet  and  good  air.  But 
the  sweet  air  of  the  playing  fields  did  not  restore  little 
Robert  to  health,  and  he  suffered  many  things  from  his 
doctor  and  grew  no  better,  till  at  last  his  cure  was  worked 
by  a  happy  accident.  A  good-natured  maid  heard  him 
lamenting  bitterly  over  the  nauseous  medicines  with  which 
he  was  drenched,  and  was  so  moved  that  she  secretly  threw 
away  the  potion,  and  filled  up  the  bottle  with  the  syrup 
of  stewed  prunes.  As  Robert  was  convinced  that  physic 
must  needs  be  loathsome,  he  heroically  swallowed  down  the 
syrup,  and  never  realised  that  it  had  been  changed  till  the 
maid  '  acquainted  him  with  the  cozonage,'  when,  whether  it 
was  his  mirth  that  cured  him,  or  whether  the  ague  had  worn 
itself  out,  he  could  never  say,  but  from  that  hour  he  com- 
pletely recovered.  It  would  have  been  but  fair  if  the  maid 
had  had  the  fee,  but  Robert  proceeded  with  due  formality 
to  '  thank  and  reward  the  physician,'  and  although  he  found 
it  very  difficult  to  keep  his  countenance  when  the  doctor 
laid  all  the  credit  of  his  recovery  to  the  last  prescription,  he 
enjoyed  tricking  the  learned  man  as  thoroughly  as  any  *  lower 
boy '  would  to-day. 

He  had  good  reason  for  disliking  medicine  ;  once  he  was 
given  a  wrong  one  by  mistake,  and  very  nearly  died  of  the 
blunder.  Nor  was  this  his  only  escape  ;  once  when  out  riding 
his  horse  threw  him  and  trod  upon  him,  and  one  night  he 
and  Francis  narrowly  missed  being  crushed  to  death,  for  the 
wall  of  their  chamber  fell  in,  half  burying  them  in  falling 
rubbish  mixed  with  the  furniture  and  books  from  the  room 
above.  Fortunately  '  a  lusty  youth '  who  was  sitting  talking 
with  Francis  by  the  fire,  pulled  him  out  of  the  ruins,  while 
Robert,  who  was  in  bed,  had  the  presence  of  mind  to  wrap  his 
head  in  the  sheet,  which  '  served  as  a  strainer  for  the  dust  and 


326     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

preserved  him  from  suffocation.'  We  must  not  for  a  moment 
think  that  the  little  philosopher  was  frightened  and  hid  his 
head  under  the  bed-clothes  ! 

But  other  and  worse  dangers  lay  in  wait  for  the  two  boys, 
of  which  unsuspecting  Sir  Henry  Wotton  knew  nothing.  In 
some  way  or  other  Lord  Cork's  suspicions  were  aroused,  and 
he  began  to  doubt  whether  Cary,  for  all  his  warm  heart  and 
elegant  epistolary  style,  was  quite  a  satisfactory  companion 
for  the  children.  He  wrote  to  ask  Sir  Henry's  opinion,  but 
Cary  seems  to  have  known  how  to  get  round  the  excellent 
Provost,  who  answered,  '  We  are  all  here  so  well  persuaded 
of  young  Mr.  Gary's  discretion  and  temper  and  zeal  in  his 
charge  and  in  the  whole  carriage  of  himself,  as  it  will  be  hard 
to  stamp  us  with  any  other  impression,  yet  because  your 
Lordship's  letter  was  so  confident,  I  bestowed  a  day  in  a 
little  inquisitiveness,  and  found  indeed  that  between  him  and 
a  young  maid,  daughter  to  our  undertaker  (and  I  do  not 
altogether,  I  must  confess,  think  unhandsome,  nor  so  far 
otherwise  as  she  thinks  herself)  there  had  passed  long  since 
certain  civil,  which  she  was  content  to  call  amourous,  language.' 
The  Provost  had  evidently  learned  the  maxim  '  Cherchez  la 
femme,'  as  he  laid  all  the  blame  of  the  flirtation  on  the 
undertaker's  conceited  daughter.  He  continued  warmly, 
'Truly  there  cannot  be  a  more  tender  attendant  about  your 
sweet  children,  insomuch  as  when  Frank  was  sick  of  no  deep 
infirmity,  [when]  he  was  out  of  his  sight  [there  was  nothing] 
but  tears  distilling,  no  doubt  from  a  good  nature.' 

Alas !  the  boys  could  have  told  a  different  story.  Robert 
related  afterwards  that  Cary  '  wanted  neither  vices,  nor  cunning 
to  dissemble  them,  especially  he  had  a  dotage  upon  play  which 
brought  him  into  ill  company  and  other  excesses.' 

In  August  1638,  as  soon  as  Lord  Cork  arrived  in  England, 


ETON   GENTLEMEN  327 

Lady  Kildare  brought  down  Francis  and  Robert  to  spend  their 
summer  holidays  in  their  new  Dorset  home,  and  then  their 
father  discovered  that  Gary  was  indeed  not  a  man  to  be  trusted 
with  the  care  of  the  boys,  and  that  Eton  was  doing  no  good  to 
either  of  them.  Frank  had  been  induced,  either  by  Gary  or 
by  an  Italian  servant  of  the  Provost's,  to  back  a  bill,  while  a 
new  headmaster  had  replaced  kind  Mr.  Harrison,  and  Robert's 
progress  in  learning  had  suffered  in  consequence.  Lord  Cork 
did  not  take  long  in  making  up  his  mind  that  his  sons'  Eton 
days  must  come  to  an  end.  We  do  not  hear  how  he  broke 
the  decision  to  the  good  old  Provost,  we  only  hear  abruptly 
that  he  halted  at  Eton  on  the  23rd  of  November  on  his  way 
home  from  London,  c  Whence  I  took  my  two  younger  sons, 
for  whose  expenses  for  three  years  for  diet  and  tutorage  and 
apparel  I  paid  £914,  35.  o.d.'  Mr.  Harrison,  who  still  had 
some  connection  with  Eton,  was  asked  to  send  their  bed-linen 
and  furniture  down  into  the  country,  and  their  school  life  was 
at  an  end. 

Gary  went  abroad,  and  the  last  we  hear  of  him  is  from 
Mr.  Marcombes,  the  tutor  of  Lewis  and  Roger,  who  came  on 
the  foolish  young  Irishman  in  Paris,  '  in  poor  equipage,'  and 
gave  him  twenty-five  French  livres  to  bring  him  home.1 

Francis  and  Robin's  education  was  carried  on  by  the 
clergyman  at  Stalbridge,  Mr.  Douch,  who  received  them  and 
their  servant  into  his  house  for  fifteen  pounds  a  quarter. 
Mr.  Douch  '  instructed  them  with  care  and  civility,'  and 
Robert  recovered  his  Latin,  which  he  had  almost  forgotten 
under  f  the  new  rigid  fellow '  who  had  replaced  his  beloved 
Mr.  Harrison.  He  now  began  to  write  Latin  verse  and 
prose,  and  also  had  lessons  in  singing  and  instrumental  music. 

But  the  next  summer  a  glorious  prospect  dawned  before 

i  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  217. 


328     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

the  school-boys.  Their  three  elder  brothers  were  riding  to 
join  the  King's  expedition  against  the  Scots,  and  Lord  Cork 
seriously  thought  of  letting  Francis  and  Robert  also  offer  their 
swords  for  his  Majesty's  service.  It  was  characteristic  enough 
that  the  Earl  should  be  proud  to  show,  that  he  not  only  had 
gold  to  give  to  his  King,  but  that  he  had  bred  up  five  noble 
sons  to  serve  him,  even  though  Robin's  twelve  years'  old  arm 
could  hardly  yet  *  lay  on  like  a  butcher '  in  the  royal  cause. 

But  alas  !  Francis  fell  ill,  and  Robin  was  needed  by  his 
playfellow,  and  to  their  desperate  disappointment  the  two  saw 
their  elder  brothers  ride  away  without  them.  But  Robin 
consoled  himself,  and  in  after  years  would  often  recall  that 
ideally  happy  summer  in  green  Dorset.  His  father  trusted 
him  with  the  keys  of  all  his  orchards  and  fruit  gardens,  but 
what  the  boy  loved  best  was  to  steal  away  alone  into  the  woods 
and  meadows,  and  there  weave  day  dreams  of  romance,  where 
no  doubt  the  comrades  of  Amadis  of  Gaul  mingled  with  half- 
remembered  heroes  of  Irish  nursery  lore.  Who  knows  what 
sweet  influences  those  peaceful  days  may  have  shed  over 
Robert's  future  life  ?  Perhaps  among  the  horrors  of  war, 
or  the  tawdry  gaiety  of  the  Restoration  court,  he  found  that 
even  kind  Mr.  Harrison's  lessons  were  less  inspiring  than 
those  he  had  learned  when 

*  His  daily  teachers  had  been  woods  and  rills, 
The  silence  that  is  in  the  starry  sky, 
The  sleep  that  is  among  the  lonely  hills.' 


CHAPTER    XIX 

SAVOY    WEDDINGS 

1638 — 1640 

'  Paint  to  her  mind  the  bridal  state, — 
That  bluff  King  Hal  the  curtain  drew, 
And  Catherine's  hand  the  stocking  threw.' 

Marmion. 

FOR  ten  months  Lord  Cork  enjoyed  the  company  of  all  his 
children,  and  was  able  to  devote  himself  with  undisturbed 
satisfaction  to  negotiating  weddings,  and  selecting  the  carvings 
for  his  new  staircase. 

But  elsewhere  history  was  being  made,  and  the  discontent 
that  was  simmering  throughout  all  the  three  kingdoms  came  to 
a  head  in  Scotland,  where  a  General  Assembly  established 
Presbyterianism,  and  all  classes  united  in  opposing  the 
Crown,  and  in  signing  a  solemn  Covenant  to  withstand  the 
religious  innovations  advocated  by  the  King  and  Archbishop 
Laud.  Lord  Cork  had  little  sympathy  with  such  irregular 
methods  of  supporting  national  liberties,  and  writes  on  the 
2yth  of  April  1639  :  '  This  day  his  Majesty  left  the  court  and 
began  his  journey  from  Whitehall  toward  York  to  reduce  his 
rebellious  subjects  in  Scotland,  wherein  I  beseech  God  to  bless 
his  army.' 

Dungarvan  instantly  offered  to  raise  one  hundred  men  for 
the  royal  service.  The  old  Earl  was  not  much  pleased  at  his 
usually  docile  son  making  such  an  independent  move  *  without 


329 


330     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

his  privity,'  but  after  a  little  grumbling  he  consented  to 
advance  the  necessary  £2000  for  equipping  the  troop,  on 
the  understanding  that  Dungarvan  should  repay  it,  with 
interest,  to  the  two  daughters  of  Lord  Barrymore,  the  two 
daughters  of  Lord  Digby,  and  Katherine  Tynte,  for  whose 
portions  it  had  been  laid  by. 

Although  he  did  not  care  to  have  his  hand  forced,  the 
Earl  was  ready  enough  to  do  his  duty  to  his  sovereign,  and 
proposed,  as  has  been  told  already,  to  send  all  his  five  sons 
to  serve  under  the  royal  banner  ;  but  Francis  falling  ill,  he 
and  Robert  were  kept  at  home  and  given  the  keys  of  the 
Stalbridge  fruit-gardens  to  console  them  for  the  laurels  they 
might  not  gather  on  the  Scottish  border. 

On  the  4th  of  May,  Lord  Cork  writes  :  '  This  day  my 
son  Dungarvan's  waggon  and  carriages  began  their  journey 
from  Stalbridge  to  go  to  his  Majesty's  camp  at  Newcastle 
or  York.  God  speed  them  well  to  return.  Dick  Power, 
Dungarvan's  coronet  of  horse,  arrived  at  Minehead  out  of 
Ireland  yesterday  and  came  this  night  to  Stalbridge,  leaving 
the  horsemen  and  horses  to  come  hither  after  him.'  The 
Earl  had  bought  saddles,  horses,  and  armour  of  proof  for 
'  Lewis  and  Hodge,'  and  his  list  of  accoutrements  ends  with 
the  prayer,  '  The  God  of  Heaven  bless,  guide,  and  protect 
them.  God,  I  beseech  Him,  return  them  safe,  happy,  and 
victorious  to  my  comfort.  I  have  promised  to  allow  each  of 
them,  besides  their  own  and  their  servant's  diet,  £$oo  apiece 
in  money  for  apparel  and  charges.'  And  so,  on  the  9th  of 
May  the  old  man's  three  sons  rode  away  to  the  north, 
Dungarvan  mounted  on  his  father's  own  saddle-horse,  Grey 
Coote,  Broghill  on  Grey  Muskerry,  and  Kinalmeaky  on  Bay 
Eddow,  a  horse  bred  no  doubt  by  Lord  Cork's  servant  John 
Eddow. 


SAVOY   WEDDINGS  331 

Perkins  commented  with  cynical  freedom  on  the  young 
lords'  departure,  '  It  were  best  for  them  to  be  with  your  Lord- 
ship at  Stalbridge,  for  nothing  is  to  be  had  of  them  [the 
Scots]  but  knocks,  and  ragged  knaves  if  they  will  not  be  ruled, 
as  I  hope  there  will  never  be  blood  drawn  in  the  quarrel.' 

Lord  Barry  more  hurried  back  to  Munster  to  beat  up 
recruits  for  a  regiment  of  foot  among  his  tenants,  but  one 
young  Irishman  lingered  on  in  London  after  the  army  had 
marched  north,  for  in  June  Perkins  reported  that  Lord  Kildare 
was  still  in  town,  '  branching  it  out  as  brave  as  may  be.  I 
hear  his  lady  sent  him  over  ^300  lately,  and  that  is  bravely 
bestowed  and  I  believe  gone ;  for  some  few  days  since  I  was 
at  his  Lordship's  lodging  to  speak  with  Mr.  Freke,  and  his 
Lordship  asked  me  to  furnish  him  with  ^1000.  His  garb 
that  he  lives  in,  never  merrier,  for  he  sings  about  the  Strand 
as  merry  as  mulled  sack,  and  that  the  boys  know  well  enough, 
for  they  flock  about  him.  .  .  .  This  day  a  gentleman  who  is 
gentleman  usher  to  the  Duke  of  York  showed  me  a  pair  of 
pistols  that  the  Little  Mad  Lord  gave  the  Duke  not  long  ago, 
who  makes  excellent  sport  with  him/ 

Perkins  was  spiteful.  Kildare  might  easily  have  been  worse 
occupied  than  in  sporting  with  the  seven  years  old  prince  ! 

Dungarvan  wrote  on  the  29th  of  May  from  Duddoe,  near 
Berwick,  to  describe  the  march  north  to  his  father  :— 

'  The  King  daily  visits  the  camp,  where  his  affability  to  the 
soldiers  has  gained  their  hearts  ;  for  he  dines  amongst  them, 
and  the  other  day  marched  eight  miles  with  the  foot,  distri- 
buted his  own  dinner  amongst  the  soldiers,  and  six  or  seven 
waggons  of  cold  meat.  He  is  truly  infinitely  careful  in  their 
accommodation,  and  grows  daily  expert  in  martial  discipline.' 

But  no  word  came  of  battles  fought  and  won,  only  rumours 
of  the  inexperience  of  the  English  army,  and  of  astute  negotia- 


332     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

tion  carried  on  by  the  Scots'  leaders,  and  then,  as  Midsummer's 
Day  dawned,  the  household  at  Stalbridge  was  awakened  by 
the  clatter  of  hoofs  on  the  avenue  and  Broghill's  voice  as  he 
sprang  from  his  horse  and  shouted  that  he  had  ridden  all 
night  to  bring  the  news  of  peace  declared.  Joyful  as  were 
the  tidings,  the  old  Earl's  pleasure  was  a  good  deal  dashed 
when  he  heard  the  terms  granted  by  the  King,  that  the  Scots 
had  been  promised  that  all  their  grievances  in  matters  ecclesi- 
astical should  be  determined  by  an  assembly  of  the  Kirk, 
and  in  matters  civil  by  the  Scottish  Parliament ;  and  that  the 
Assembly  and  the  Parliament  were  already  summoned  for 
the  following  August,  when  the  King  himself  would  honour 
them  by  his  presence. 

Lord  Cork  confided  to  his  trusted  friend  Lord  Ranelagh 
that  he  could  not  but  wish  that  the  King's  service  had  required 
his  sons'  longer  stay  in  Scotland,  '  and  that  his  Majesty  had 
not  dissolved  his  army  so  soon,  for  it  had  been  a  more  brave 
and  safe  work  to  have  given  them  laws  with  an  army  and  his 
sword  drawn,  than  to  have  stood  upon  capitulations  as  this 
enclosed  proclamation  will  show  you  to  be  the  present  case.' 

Soon  after  George  Goring  arrived  with  his  brothers-in-law 
at  Stalbridge,  and  on  the  23rd  of  August  came  Lord  Barry- 
more  and  several  of  his  officers,  with  heavy  hearts  enough, 
for,  as  Lord  Cork  explains,  the  King  had  only  allowed  £  2000 
to  Lord  Barrymore,  for  '  the  expense  of  raising  and  bringing 
out  of  Ireland  fifteen  hundred  Irish  soldiers,  to  serve  against 
the  covenanting  rebellious  Scots.  But  the  King  having  con- 
cluded a  peace  before  they  could  come  to  his  camp  they  were 
dismissed,  with  command  to  return  to  Ireland,  to  the  great 
loss  of  Lord  Barrymore,  for  to  content  them  he  was  enforced 
to  bestow  more  money  among  them  than  the  King  gave  him.' 
Such  was  the  royal  gratitude  to  the  poor  chieftain  of  the 


SAVOY   WEDDINGS  333 

Barrys,  for  all  his  exertions  in  raising  his  regiment !  What 
wonder  that  the  Irish  soldiers  were  discontented !  The  real 
wonder  was  that  there  should  be  any  loyalty  left  in  Ireland 
at  all. 

When  his  sons  came  back  to  him  from  the  Scotch  war, 
Lord  Cork  decided  to  emerge  from  his  retirement  and  spend 
the  winter  of  1639  in  London.  There  were  many  matrimonial 
projects  on  foot  that  aided  in  drawing  him  thither. 

Sir  Thomas  Stafford  had  by  this  time  married  a  court 
lady,  the  widow  of  Sir  William  Killigrew,  and  when  the 
StafFords  came  to  pay  their  summer  visit  to  Stalbridge,  they 
had  brought  with  them  Lady  Stafford's  daughter  by  her  first 
husband,  a  pretty  minx  named  Mrs.  Betty  Killigrew.  Mrs. 
Betty,  though  little  more  than  a  child,  was  already  a  maid  of 
honour,  and  her  pretty  face  and  her  court  graces  quite  turned 
the  head  of  the  gentle  Eton  boy,  Francis  Boyle.  But  this  was 
all  as  it  should  be.  Early  in  the  summer  Lord  Cork  writes 
that  he  and  Lady  Stafford  had  '  conferred  privately  between 
ourselves  touching  our  children,  and  concluded '  ;  and  in 
September  came  royal  letters  urging  the  match,  for  Betty's 
father  had  been  Vice-Chamberlain  to  the  Queen,  and  her 
Majesty  was  graciously  desirous  to  support  Lady  Stafford's 
wishes. 

Lord  Cork  had  come  to  dislike  boy  and  girl  marriages, 
but  Lady  Stafford  wrote  very  urgently  to  press  that  there 
should  be  no  delay  : — 

*  I  have  given  the  King  and  Queen  a  just  relation  of  your 
favour  to  me  and  mine,  and  found  them  much  pleased  with  it. 
...  If  there  be  no  other  goodness  in  this  place  but  fair 
promises  I  am  most  unhappy,  for  my  desire  to  serve  you 
is  beyond  my  expression,  which  your  Lordship  may  easily 


334     LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

believe  when  you  call  to  remembrance  the  noble  way  you  have 
obliged  me ;  wherein  for  ever  I  must  study  to  deserve  by 
being  faithful  to  you  and  yours.  And  if  your  Lordship 
thinks  fit,  I  beseech  you  send  my  dear  Fs.  straight  away,  for 
we  long  to  see  him  ;  and  your  Lordship  must  resolve  to  be 
governed  by  the  King  and  Queen,  for  they  will  have  it  at 
court,  believing  that  to  be  the  more  honour  for  your  Lord- 
ship ;  and  now  I  have  done,  so  you  will  pardon  these  lines,  and 
believe  me  to  be  the  humblest  of  your  Lordship's  servants, 

MARY  STAFFORD.' 

Mary  Boyle  long  afterwards  described  my  Lady  Stafford 
as  a  '  cunning  old  woman.'  She  certainly  was  an  experienced 
woman  of  the  world,  who  knew  how  to  take  advantage  of 
every  turn  of  court  politics,  and  who  had  no  intention  of 
letting  such  a  good  match  for  her  pretty  daughter  be  lost  for 
lack  of  hurrying  matters  on.  But  the  old  Earl  was  not  easily 
to  be  talked  over,  and  when  Francis  went  up  to  town  he 
carried  a  very  serious  and  touching  protest  from  his  father  to 
Lady  Stafford. 

'Mv  MUCH  HONOURED  LADY, — I  will  forbear  all  tedious 
discourse  and  lay  all  compliments  aside,  for  that  my  intents  to 
your  Ladyship  and  yours  are  real,  without  any  ceremonial 
mixture,  and  so  the  effects  shall  speak  me,  for  I  hold  it  the 
more  essential  part  of  an  honest  man  to  do  their  promises. 

'  I  am  satisfied  and  consequently  most  thankful  for  the 
noble  offices  you  have  vouchsafed  me  to  his  Majesty  and  his 
gracious  queen,  whose  person  I  am  obliged  to  honour,  and  to 
whose  services  my  heart  is  devoted. 

'  I  do  now  send  the  bearer  to  offer  his  service  unto  you, 
and  to  be  commanded  and  governed  by  you.  My  faith 


SAVOY   WEDDINGS  335 

assures  me  that  God  gave  him  me  that  I  might  bestow  him 
upon  you,  and  so  I  do  with  all  my  heart  and  best  blessing, 
desiring  you  to  dispose  of  him  for  your  own  honour  and  his 
best  advantage,  and  to  remember  that  he  was  born  upon  the 
25th  of  June  1623,  and  that  he  is  now  but  upon  the  worst 
side  of  the  sixteenth  year  of  his  age.  And  I  intend  to  spare 
neither  care  nor  charge  to  give  him  a  noble  breeding  in 
foreign  kingdoms  ;  and  whether  an  unripe  marriage  may  not 
hinder  his  corporal  growth,  or  his  proficiency  in  learning,  or 
raise  higher  thoughts  in  him  than  to  be  ordered  and  governed 
by  a  tutor,  I  pray  you  to  take  into  more  than  ordinary  con- 
sideration, for  I  send  him  unto  you  as  a  silken  thread  to  be 
wrought  into  what  sample  [sampler  ?]  you  please,  either  flower 
or  weed,  and  to  be  knotted  or  untied  as  God  shall  be  pleased 
to  put  into  your  noble  heart.  Yet  in  my  best  understanding, 
a  good  and  sure  contract  is  as  binding  as  a  marriage,  especially 
when  all  intentions  are  real  as  mine  are  and  ever  shall  be, 
which  are  accompanied  with  a  strong  assurance  that  this  child 
of  mine  will  prove  religious,  honest,  and  just,  though  he  be 
modest  and  somewhat  over  bashful,  but  good  company  and 
foreign  travels  will  I  doubt  not  in  time  breed  greater  con- 
fidence in  him.  What  he  is,  is  with  himself  and  yours,  and 
therefore  I  pray,  guide  him  to  the  best  improvement  of  himself 
and  yours. 

'  I  will  detain  you  no  longer,  for  that  I  purpose  very 
shortly  to  do  myself  the  honour  as  to  gain  the  happiness  of 
waiting  upon  you,  and  in  the  mean  time  and  ever,  make  it 
my  suit  unto  you  to  esteem  me  as  I  am,  your  Ladyship's 
most  affectionate  and  humblest  of  your  faithful  servants, 

R.  CORK.' 

The  King  and  Queen,  who  looked  on  Mrs.  Betty  as  a 


336     LIFE  OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

pretty  plaything,  were  eager  to  give  her  a  gay  wedding 
without  delay,  and  Lord  Cork's  scruples  had  to  give  way  to 
the  obedience  due  to  royalty. 

The  share  of  his  Munster  estates  destined  for  Francis  had 
already  been  settled  by  the  septpartite  conveyance,  and  now 
at  the  right  moment  an  estate  was  offered  for  sale  that  would 
provide  an  English  residence  for  the  young  couple  near  to 
Mrs.  Betty's  inheritance  in  Devonshire.  Captain  Arscott,  the 
grandson  of  the  last  St.  Leger  of  Annory,  desired  to  sell  that 
historic  mansion  near  Bideford,  and  after  some  negotiations 
Lord  Cork  bought  it  for  ^5000.  He  wrote  to  Whalley  at 
Lismore  describing  the  new  purchase  as  *  one  of  the  goodliest 
houses  in  the  western  parts  of  England,  and  I  can  put  my 
foot  in  a  boat  at  Youghal  and  land  at  my  own  door.  It  is 
very  well  wooded  and  watered,  with  goodly  gardens,  orchards, 
and  fisheries.  It  is  nearer  Youghal  by  many  leagues  than 
Mine  Head,  and  the  fittest  place  in  all  England  for  me,  con- 
sidering how  my  land  lies  in  Ireland,  and  with  what  conveni- 
ence all  things  may  be  brought  from  one  house  to  another.' 
Although  the  estates  were  offered  to  Lord  Cork  in  1639,  the 
purchase  was  not  concluded  till  1641,  when  Lord  Cork 
calculated  that  the  hop-gardens,  fishings,  lands,  and  woods 
were  worth  £3000  a  year.  On  the  3rd  of  August  1641  he 
sent  by  carrier  to  Bristol,  to  be  forwarded  to  Annory  by  boat, 
twelve  '  back  chairs '  and  twelve  high  stools  of  Turkey  work, 
four  feather  beds,  and  two  flock  beds,  with  pewter,  brass,  and 
other  necessaries. 

It  may  be  suspected  that  even  if  he  had  not  wished  to  get 
an  English  house  for  Francis,  Lord  Cork  could  not  have 
resisted  buying  a  place  that  charmed  him  so  greatly  ;  after 
living  so  long  in  the  bustle  of  a  seaport  town,  perhaps  he 
grew  a  little  weary  of  the  '  sweet  inland  tones '  of  Stalbridge, 


SAVOY   WEDDINGS  337 

which   in   after   years   his    son  Robert  described   as   a  very- 
hermitage  of  retirement. 

With  Frank's  wedding  in  prospect,  Lord  Cork  and  his 
family  prepared  to  leave  Stalbridge,  and  take  up  their  abode 
in  the  lodgings  in  the  Savoy  Palace  which  Carew  had 
bequeathed  to  Sir  Thomas  Stafford.  Francis  was  already 
there,  with  his  brother  Kinalmeaky  and  the  Gorings,  not  a 
very  staid  party,  and  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  hinted  that  Lord 
Cork  would  do  well  not  to  leave  the  young  people  too  long  to 
their  own  devices.  He  wrote  from  Whitehall  oft  the  26th  of 
August : — 

'  MY  LORD, — When  I  consider  how  ill  arithmeticians 
young  ladies  are,  confirmed  by  that  [opinion]  of  my  dear 
Lady  Katherine,  makes  me  again  wish  that  your  Lordship 
would  hasten  your  coming  hither,  or  at  least  my  Lady  Dun- 
garvan,  who  will  prove  a  good  Mareschal  de  Logis  to  dispose 
to  everyone  their  part  of  your  old  Savoy  house,  that  if  I  may 
have  the  happiness  to  know  when  you  begin  your  journey  I 
will  not  fail  to  wait  on  you.' 

Alas  !  Sir  Thomas's  belief  in  Lady  Dungarvan's  powers  as 
Mareschal  de  Logis  was  not  entirely  justified  by  her  house- 
keeping at  Stalbridge.  It  will  be  remembered  that  she  and 
Lady  Barrymore  had  been  given  a  regular  allowance  with 
which  to  carry  on  the  household  ;  but  Lord  Cork  writes, 
{ Now,  however,  when  I  was  to  go  to  London,  promising 
myself  to  be  clear  and  out  of  all  debts,  they  and  Thomas 
Langdale,  who  they  wholly  employed  in  disbursing  of  my 
moneys,  baulking  Thomas  Badnedge,  made  it  appear  they  had 
grown  in  debt  to  diverse  merchants,  vintners,  brewers,  graziers, 
in  the  sum  of  £700,  which  for  the  preservation  of  their  credit 


338     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

and  mine  in  the  country  I  fully  discharged  with  ready  money, 
to  all  such  as  were  present  to  receive  it.' 

We  cannot  but  imagine  the  scene — the  coach  and  six 
waiting  at  the  great  gate,  and  the  brewer  and  grazier  and 
vintner  dunning  the  two  trembling  ladies  and  the  unlucky 
clerk  of  the  kitchen,  and  how  the  great  Earl  looked  when  he 
demanded  the  cause  of  the  delay,  and  what  the  great  Earl 
said  when  he  sent  his  trusty  and  slighted  Badnedge  to  fetch 
the  money-bags  from  the  iron  chest.  It  really  was  happy 
that  the  old  gentleman  did  not  have  a  second  paralytic  fit ! 
But  his  indignation  seems  to  have  been  soon  appeased.  They 
arrived  that  night  at  Salisbury  without  any  further  incident, 
and  the  fourth  day,  '  God  be  praised,  I  and  mine  came  safely 
to  London,  where  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  had  prepared  his  house 
of  the  Savoy  bravely  furnished  with  all  things  save  linen  and 
plate,  which  I  brought  with  me.' 

Sir  John  Leeke  had  announced  the  arrival  of  the  Boyles  to 
his  Verney  cousins  as  '  the  greatest  family  that  will  live  in 
London  ;  I  pray  God  the  old  man  hold  out.' l  The  family 
was  indeed  so  great  that  many  of  them  had  to  lodge  in  other 
houses,  but  all  met  for  meals  at  Lord  Cork's  table.  Lettice 
Goring  afterwards  lamented  the  fatigue  that  so  much  bustle 
and  noise  must  have  caused  her  father,  but  she  probably  was 
not  pleased  at  the  authority  of  the  house  being  taken  out  of 
her  hands.  Not  only  were  Lady  Dungarvan  and  Lady  Barry- 
more  there,  but  Sir  Thomas  Stafford's  much-admired  Lady 
Katherine  joined  the  party.  Sir  John  Leeke  sent  a  formal 
announcement  of  her  arrival  to  the  Verneys,  describing  her  as 
a  paragon  of  goodness  and  cleverness,  and  only  hoping  that 
London  would  appreciate  her.  Before  leaving  Dorset  Lord 
Cork  had  written  to  entreat  Lord  Ranelagh  to  spare  his  son 
and  Katherine  for  a  prolonged  visit  in  England. 

1  Ver.  Mem*.,  \.  204. 


SAVOY   WEDDINGS  339 

*  MY  NOBLE  LORD  AND  BROTHER, — I  should  long  since 
have  given  you  many  thanks  for  having  permitted  my 
daughter  to  see  me,  after  the  long  absence  of  three  years  from 
me,  but  that  at  her  first  coming  she  talked  of  so  speedy  a 
return  that  I  thought  she  would  have  been  the  first  convenient 
messenger  I  could  have  sent  them  by.'  He  proceeds  to  give 
an  account  of  the  birth  of  his  daughter's  baby  '  ffrank,'  and  to 
entreat  that  Katherine  and  her  husband  might  remain  in 
England  for  the  winter,  '  for  the  doctors  are  of  opinion  she 
will  not  be  in  case  with  safety  to  travel  till  then  and  to  divide 
them  were  an  unpardonable  sin.  And  for  him  to  return  and 
leave  her  behind,  in  the  weak  estate  she  is  in,  would  be  such 
an  affliction  unto  her  as  she  will  never  endure  ;  for  if  be  so, 
no  persuasion  can  work  in  her  to  stay  behind.  .  .  .  They 
shall  both  be  lodged  and  dieted  in  my  house  and  heartily 
welcome.  And  I  dare  confidently  affirm  unto  you  that  I 
observe  Arthur  to  be  so  discreet  and  careful  that  he  will  make 
the  best  use  of  his  time.  And  that  his  winter  stay  here  will 
render  him  unto  you  much  improved  ;  he  being  more  eager 
to  study  serious  things  than  to  be  carried  away  with  levity  and 
youthful  vanities.  .  .  .  And  that  the  expense  of  his  time  in 
London  will  much  better  him  in  all  respects,  now  he  hath 
given  over  immoderate  play  in  corners.  I  must  now  conclude 
this  suit,  that  if  anything  in  the  managing  of  this  affair  seem 
in  your  better  judgment  to  be  in  error  that  you  will  lay  it  to 
my  charge  and  not  to  your  son's.  .  .  .' 

As  soon  as  the  '  great  family '  were  settled  at  the  Savoy, 
Francis  was  married  with  all  the  pomp  and  strange  ceremonies 
of  the  time.  Lord  Cork,  when  he  wrote  it  down,  felt  the 
royal  favours  showered  on  his  family  were  some  compensation 
for  the  humiliations  he  had  endured. 


340     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF  CORK 

October  24,  1639. 

*  This  day  my  fourth  son  Francis  Boyle  was  married  in  the 
King's  chapel  at  Whitehall,  to  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Killigrew,  one 
of  the  Queen's  Majesty's  maids  of  honour. — The  King  with 
his  own  royal  hand  gave  my  son  his  wife  in  marriage  and 
made  a  great  feast  in  court  for  her,  whereat  the  King  and 
Queen  were  both  present,  and  I  with  three  of  my  daughters 
sat  at  the  King  and  Queen's  table  amongst  all  the  great  Lords 
and  Ladies.  The  King  took  the  bride  out  to  dance,  and 
after  the  dancing  was  ended  the  King  led  the  bride  by  the 
hand  to  her  bedchamber,  where  the  Queen  herself  did  with 
her  own  hands  help  to  undress  her.  And  his  Majesty  and  the 
Queen  both  stayed  in  the  bedchamber  till  they  saw  my  son 
and  his  wife  in  bed,  and  they  both  kissed  the  bride  and 
blessed  them,  as  I  did,  and  I  beseech  God  to  bless  them.' 

The  next  day  *  My  daughter-in-law  and  my  son  Francis 
having  both  this  day  presented  their  humble  thanks  to  their 
Majesties  for  the  great  favours  and  grace  done  them,  and 
kissed  their  hands,  came  from  court  to  my  house  at  the  Savoy 
with  me,  accompanied  with  the  Lord  and  Lady  Elizabeth 
Fielding,  the  Mother  [of  the  maids  of  honour]  and  all  the 
maids  of  honour,  Sir  T.  Stafford  and  his  lady  with  diverse 
courtiers,  on  whom  I  bestowed  a  feast  where  there  was  great 
revellry.' 

After  but  three  days  of  married  life  the  poor  boy  bride- 
groom was  bidden  take  farewell  of  his  bride  and  was  packed 
off  to  Geneva  with  his  tutor,  going  as  sadly  and  unwillingly  as 
a  Cinderella  leaving  the  court  ball  to  return  to  her  kitchen. 
He  had,  however,  the  comfort  of  his  inseparable  brother 
Robin's  company,  and  all  too  many  letters  followed  him  from 
Mrs.  Betty  for  his  tutor's  approval. 

Sir  Thomas  Stafford  did  not  pay  over  her  fortune  at  once, 


SAVOY  WEDDINGS  341 

but  gave  the  Earl  £40  a  quarter,  as  interest  on  the  £2000  and 
to  pay  for  her  maintenance.  Betty  took  up  her  abode  in  her 
father-in-law's  house,  and  became  the  chamberfellow  of  her 
youngest  sister-in-law,  Mary,  with  whom  she  struck  up  a 
schoolgirl  intimacy  that  led  both  silly  girls  into  sad  scrapes. 

Betty,  for  the  time,  seems  to  have  been  very  much  attached 
to  her  husband,  and  to  have  shared  his  indignation  at  their 
separation.  So  before  many  months  were  past  the  harassed 
tutor  reported  to  Lord  Cork  that  he  had  heard  from  '  Some- 
body (which  did  reveal  it  presently  unto  me)  that  Mrs.  Boyle 
hath  desired  Mr.  Francis  oftentimes  by  letters  to  return  into 
England  for  some  special  business,  and  that  he  should  stay  but 
a  while  ;  and  that  I  must  confess  I  did  not  approve,  but 
rather  I  did  dissuade  him  by  strong  reasons  (but  speaking 
always  in  the  person  of  others  as  if  I  had  known  nothing  of 
the  contents  of  his  letters),  never  to  undertake  such  a  thing, 
alleging  at  last  that  a  wise  governor  is  obliged  to  prevent 
such  a  thing  by  his  authority  when  his  reasons  cannot  prevent. 
Assuring  yourself  that  I  did  not  give  him  so  much  money  as 
once  I  used  to  do,  for  if  I  had  not  looked  very  narrowly 
upon  him,  he  had  done  I  do  not  know  what.  But  now  there 
is  no  danger  till  we  come  to  Paris,  and  therefore  I  think  your 
Lordship  would  ^do  very  well  to  command  me  in  all  your 
letters  to  say  unto  Mr.  Francis  that  if  ever  he  should  under- 
take to  return  into  England  or  Ireland  without  your  Lord- 
ship's special  order,  or  if  he  doth  not  dissuade  by  all  his  letters 
his  wife  to  undertake  any  journey  out  of  the  kingdom  with 
whatsoever  person  of  the  world,  not  excepting  her  own 
brother  Mr.  Thomas  Killigrew^  by  whose  counsel  she  must 
not  be  ruled,  but  rather  that  if  he  do  not  persuade  her  to 
go  into  Ireland  or  else  to  stay  with  her  own  mother,  in  that 
case  you  will  disinherit  him,  and  not  acknowledge  him  for 


342     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

your  son.  And  take  my  word,  my  Lord,  that  that  will  much 
prevail  with  him,  and  he  with  his  wife  ;  for  as  it  should  be  a 
ridiculous  thing  that  she  should  undertake  to  come  to  meet 
him,  so  it  should  be  a  great  pity  that  he  should  return  home 
without  those  qualities  that  befit  a  gentleman  of  his  quality ; 
and  that  he  could  not  get  in  any  other  place  as  well  as  he 
shall  in  Paris.' 

Lord  Cork  was  indeed  wise  to  send  his  younger  boys  to 
finish  their  education  far  from  the  follies  and  extravagances  of 
the  court  and  the  gaieties  of  the  Savoy,  where  Mary  said 
afterwards  her  father  '  lived  extraordinarily  high  and  drew  a 
great  resort  thither.'  The  after  lives  of  Francis  and  Robert 
owed  much  to  Mr.  Marcombes'  training.  Lord  Cork's  elder 
sons,  alas  !  came  too  late  under  his  care  for  him  to  acquire 
much  influence  over  them,  and  Broghill  led  a  fast  enough 
life,  if  contemporary  gossip  may  be  trusted,  while  poor 
Kinalmeaky  before  long  had  hardly  a  shred  of  character  left 
him  ;  and  yet,  sad  to  admit,  save  for  the  bitter  shame  and 
anger  with  which  his  father  made  one  or  two  entries  about  him 
in  his  diary,  which  are  too  outspoken  to  reproduce,  no  one  in 
society  seems  to  have  thought  a  whit  the  worse  of  the  young 
fellow,  and  he  was  considered  as  desirable  a  match  as  if  he  had 
been  a  Sunderland  or  a  Falkland. 

Very  soon  after  Francis'  wedding  Lord  Cork  and  Sir 
Thomas  Stafford  4  being  in  private  conference  with  the 
Countess  of  Denbigh,  the  Queen's  Majesty  came  unlocked 
for  in  upon  us,  whose  gracious  hands  I  had  the  honour  to 
kiss,  and  she  vouchsafed  to  give  me  thanks  for  obeying  her 
desire  in  her  letter  touching  the  marriage  of  my  son  Francis 
to  Mrs.  E.  Killigrew.' 

This  solemn  conference  in  Lady  Denbigh's  rooms  of 
course  concerned  another  marriage,  and  soon  after,  Lord  and 


SAVOY   WEDDINGS  343 

Lady  Denbigh  came  with  their  son-in-law  the  Marquis  of 
Hamilton,  the  cousin  of  the  King,  and  Lady  Victoria  Gary, 
Lord  Falkland's  sister,  and  '  invited  themselves  to  supper, 
when  the  Marquis  and  Countess  treated  with  me  for  a 
marriage  to  be  had  between  Lady  Elizabeth  Fielding  and  my 
son  Kinalmeaky,  which,  till  the  King's  Majesty  had  expressed 
himself  to  the  Lord  Marquis  and  the  Countess,  what  marriage 
portion  and  preferment  he  would  give  me  with  that  lady,  was 
deferred  ;  and  I  bestowed  a  good  feast  upon  them.' 

The  King  took  a  special  interest  in  the  Fieldings,  as  Lady 
Denbigh  was  sister  to  his  early  favourite,  the  great  Duke  of 
Buckingham  ;  he  had  arranged  Lady  Mary  Fielding's  semi- 
royal  marriage  with  the  Marquis  of  Hamilton,  and  it  was  to 
be  expected  that  he  would  do  all  in  his  power  to  forward  her 
sister's  match  with  the  son  of  the  rich  old  Earl  of  Cork.  No 
time  was  lost,  and  evidently  the  King's  dowry  was  all  that 
could  be  desired,  for  a  week  after,  the  Earl's  confidential 
servant,  William  Chettle,  was  sent  '  to  carry  ^100  to  Lewis,  to 
provide  him  with  apparel  fitting  for  his  marriage  with  Lady 
Elizabeth  Fielding,  one  of  the  ladies  of  her  Majesty's  privy 
chamber.'  ( And  I,'  ends  the  economical  Earl,  '  lent  him  my 
son  Frank's  wedding-shoes,  which  were  delivered  to  him  the 
1 8th  of  this  month.' 

The  day  after  Christmas  Day  was  the  wedding,  which 
eclipsed  that  of  Francis  and  Betty,  with  '  much  revelling, 
dancing,  and  feasting,  and  the  Queen  presented  the  bride 
with  a  rich  necklace  of  pearl  valued  at  ^1500,  which  the 
King's  Majesty  put  about  her  neck,  and  it  was  and  is  and 
shall  be  my  prayer  to  God  to  bless,  guide,  and  preserve  them 
with  health  and  long  life,  and  to  make  them  fruitful  in  virtuous 
children,  in  good  works,  to  His  glory.  Amen,  Amen.' 

Lady  Kinalmeaky  was  greatly  beloved  by  the  old  Earl. 


344     LIFE  OF  THE  GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

She  was  a  beautiful  and  fashionable  woman,  and  doubtless 
knew  how  to  make  herself  agreeable  to  him.  We  never  hear 
of  her  doing  or  saying  anything  especially  charming,  but 
any  one  connected  with  the  Villiers  family  had  a  sort  of 
glamour  for  Lord  Cork,  and  he  probably  endeavoured  to  do 
all  in  his  power  to  make  up  to  her  for  the  want  of  happiness 
in  her  married  life.  One  of  the  allusions  to  her  in  his  diary 
describes  with  emotion  her  escape  from  a  serious  danger  in 
passing  under  old  London  Bridge,  where  the  tide  swirled  in 
rapids  through  the  narrow  arches. 

{ July  1641.  This  day  Mrs.  Kirke  was  drowned  coming 
through  London  Bridge.  The  Earl  of  Denbigh  and  his 
daughter,  my  dear  dear  daughter-in-law  the  Lady  Kinalmeaky, 
through  God's  good  providence  and  mercy,  being  also  cast 
away  in  the  Thames,  were  miraculously  preserved  :  for  which 
great  delivery  God  make  me  and  her  ever  most  thankful.' 

In  January  1640  Lord  Cork  wrote  to  give  Mr.  Marcombes 
all  the  family  news,  and,  most  joyful  tidings  of  all,  that  a  son 
and  heir  was  born  to  Lord  Dungarvan.  He  writes : — 

'  On  the  1 2th  of  December  it  pleased  the  King's  Majesty 
to  christen  the  child  by  the  name  of  Charles,  being  assisted 
by  the  Marquis  Hamilton  and  Countess  of  Salisbury.  Your 
friend  Broghill  is  in  a  fair  way  of  being  married  to  Mrs. 
Harrison,  one  of  the  Queen's  maids  of  honour,  about  whom 
yesterday  a  difference  happened  between  Mr.  Thomas  Steward,1 
the  Earl  of  Berkshire's  son,  and  him,  which  drew  them  into 
the  field.  But  thanks  be  to  God,  Broghill  came  home  without 
any  hurt  and  the  other  gentleman  not  much  harmed  ;  and 
now  they  have  clashed  their  swords  together  they  have  grown 
good  friends.  I  think  in  my  next  I  shall  advise  you  that 

1  Evidently  a  slip  of  the  pen  for  Howard. 


SAVOY   WEDDINGS  345 

my  daughter  Mary  is  nobly  married  and  that  at  the  spring  I 
shall  send  her  husband  to  keep  company  with  my  sons  at 
Geneva.' J 

But  Mary  would  none  of  the  *  noble  marriage.'  In  the 
course  of  his  long  life  the  Earl  of  Cork  only  met  with  one 
person  who  finally  got  the  better  of  him  ;  the  great  Lord 
Deputy's  triumph  over  him  was  but  for  a  season  ;  it  was 
reserved  to  a  girl  of  fifteen  to  do  battle  with  the  Earl  and 
come  off  final  victor. 

Lady  Mary  Boyle  was  but  thirteen  when  she  was  taken 
from  the  motherly  care  of  Lady  Clayton,  as  she  herself  says 
'  much  to  her  own  dissatisfaction,'  to  find  herself  at  Stalbridge, 
lost  among  a  crowd  of  grown-up  brothers  and  sisters  who 
were  too  busy  over  their  own  affairs  to  take  much  interest  in 
the  clever  and  spoilt  little  girl.  If  we  may  guess  anything 
from  her  father  giving  her  a  copy  of  Sidney's  Arcadia,  she 
probably  inherited  the  literary  tastes  of  her  grandfather,  Sir 
Geoffrey  Fenton,  and  she  certainly  inherited  her  father's 
tenacity  of  purpose.  Lord  Cork  wished  her  first  appearance 
in  England  to  be  worthy  of  her  rank,  and  before  she  left 
Lady  Clayton,  he  had  sent  Ned,  Lady  Barrymore's  tailor,  to 
Cork,  with  e  ten  yards  of  scarlet  ingrain  plush,  at  twenty-four 
shillings  and  sixpence  the  yard  in  Dublin,  an  ell  and  a  half  of 
taffeta  and  fourteen  yards  of  silver  bonelace  spangled,  weighing 
seventeen  ounces,  to  make  Mary  a  new  gown  withal,'  and  he 
allowed  her  a  hundred  a  year  for  her  dress,  besides  a  little 
meadow  of  four  acres  '  to  buy  her  pins.' 

A  marriage  had  been  already  arranged  for  Mary  with  the 
son  of  Lord  Clandeboye,  a  grandson  of  the  great  Lord  Deputy 
Perrot,  but  alas  !  when  the  suitor  presented  himself  at  Stal- 
bridge, Mary  took  such  a  violent  dislike  to  him,  that  although 

1  Printed  in  Smith,  i.  81. 


346     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

the  whole  family  united  in  advising  and  scolding  her,  the  little 
girl  in  her  red  plush  frock  withstood  them  all. 

Her  discomfited  father  wrote  :  *  This  day  my  daughter 
Marie  did,  as  she  had  done  many  times  before,  declare  a 
very  high  aversion  and  contradiction  to  our  council  and 
commands  touching  her  marriage  with  Mr.  J.  Hamilton, 
although  myself  and  all  my  sons  and  daughters,  the  Lord 
Barrymore,  Arthur  Jones,  and  all  other  her  best  friends  did 
most  effectually  entreat  and  persuade  her  thereto,  and  I 
command.' 

Mary,  in  after  days,  was  convinced  that  her  dislike  of  Mr. 
Hamilton  had  been  inspired  by  Providence,  as  the  poor  man 
not  long  after  lost  all  his  fortune,  and  Mary's  theology  was 
so  accommodating  as  to  anticipate  temporal  rewards  for  inde- 
pendent spirited  young  ladies,  in  defiance  of  the  fifth  command- 
ment. But  Mr.  Hamilton  was  not  the  only  rejected  suitor. 
One  gallant  after  another  presented  himself  in  vain,  and  her 
irritated  father  at  last  tried  what  •  a  little  adversity  would  do, 
and  stopped  her  dress  allowance  ;  but  in  spite  of  having  to 
make  a  piece  of  the  best  bed-curtains  do  for  a  winter  waistcoat, 
Mary  stuck  to  her  resolve,  '  living,'  she  says,  '  so  much  at  my 
ease  that  I  was  unwilling  to  change  my  condition '  ;  and  she 
continued  of  the  same  mind  after  the  family  came  up  to 
London.  Sir  John  Leeke  introduced  her  to  Lady  Verney  as 
'a  young  peer  that  stands  in  fear  of  you  already,  she  holds 
down  her  head  a  little,  and  my  Mistress  (Lady  Barrymore) 
tells  her  that  when  you  see  her  you  will  not  spare  to  chide 
her.  She  is  a  sweet-disposed  lady,'  concludes  the  good- 
natured  old  gentleman,  and  begs  Lady  Verney  to  use  her 
influence  in  favour  of  a  match  between  the  girl  and  the  '  new 
Earl  of  Thomond.' 

But  Mary  would  listen  to  no  counsels  from  older  people, 


SAVOY  WEDDINGS  347 

and  it  was  not  till  Betty  Killigrew  came  into  the  family  that 
Mary  began  to  look  with  other  eyes  on  young  gentlemen  ; 
for  Betty  spent  all  the  time  she  could  spare  from  '  exquisite 
and  curious  dressing '  in  reading  romances  and  going  to  see 
plays,  and  soon  made  her  shy  Irish  sister-in-law  as  sentimental 
a  damsel  as  herself. 

It  must  be  admitted  they  had  every  encouragement  to 
sentiment,  for  Broghill's  passionate  wooing  of  Mrs.  Harrison 
was  going  on  under  their  eyes.  Mr.  Charles  Rich,  Lord 
Warwick's  younger  son,  and  Mr.  Howard,  the  heir  of  Lord 
Berkshire,  were  also  at  the  feet  of  the  court  beauty,  but  they 
sank  their  rivalry  in  their  fear  of  the  rich  and  fascinating 
Munster  suitor,  and  Mr.  Rich  carried  the  challenge  from 
Howard  to  Broghill.  As  Lord  Cork  related  to  Mr. 
Marcombes,  the  duel  came  off  without  much  damage  being 
done,  and  the  fair  cause  of  debate  gave  her  promise  to  the 
victor.  Lord  Cork  did  not  share  Broghill's  admiration  of 
the  lady,  but  he  could  not  refuse  his  son's  vehement  entreaties, 
and  the  wedding-day  was  settled  and  the  wedding-clothes 
bought.  Then  suddenly,  Mrs.  Harrison  changed  her  mind, 
and  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  all  her  friends,  gave  her 
hand  to  Mr.  Howard. 

Dorothy  Osborne,  one  of  the  most  charming  letter-writers 
of  the  day,  retailed  all  the  gossip  about  this  match  with  great 
amusement,  for  the  benefit  of  her  own  lover,  William  Temple. 
She  says  :  *  The  Queen  took  the  greatest  pains  to  persuade 
her  from  it  that  could  be,  and  as  somebody  says,  I  know 
not  who,  Majesty  is  no  ill  orator,  but  all  would  not  do. 
When  she  had  nothing  to  say  ror  herself  she  told  her  Majesty 
she  would  rather  beg  with  Mr.  Howard  than  live  in  the 
greatest  plenty  that  could  be  with  either  my  Lord  Broghill, 
Charles  Rich,  or  Mr.  Neville,  for  all  these  were  dying  for 


348     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

her  then.  I  am  afraid  she  has  altered  her  opinion  since 
'twas  too  late,  for  I  do  not  take  Mr.  Howard  to  be  a 
person  that  can  deserve  one  should  neglect  all  the  world 
for  him.'1 

Betty  naturally  had  many  friends  among  the  court 
gentlemen,  and  was  very  intimate  with  Charles  Rich,  who, 
when  there  was  no  further  question  of  rivalry  with  Broghill, 
made  friends  with  him,  and  soon  became  a  constant  visitor  at 
Lord  Cork's  house.  There  he  consoled  himself  for  his  loss  of 
Mrs.  Harrison  by  paying  attention  to  Mary.  He  was,  Mary 
says,  a  very  cheerful  and  handsome,  well  bred  and  fashioned 
person,  and  Mrs.  Betty  did  all  in  her  power  to  further  his 
suit,  which  was  kept  a  romantic  and  profound  secret  between 
the  two  girls.  At  last  Mary  caught  the  measles,  and  Mr. 
Rich's  manifest  anxiety  made  the  rest  of  the  family  suspect 
that  something  was  going  on,  so  old  Lady  Stafford  got  the 
whole  history  out  of  Betty  and  told  the  Earl,  who  promptly 
packed  Mary  off  to  Hampton  out  of  the  way.  Broghill 
drove  her  down  in  his  coach,  and  he  and  his  elder  brother 
Dungarvan  came  to  visit  her  more  than  once  and  urge  her 
to  give  up  such  a  detrimental  suitor,  but  Mary  answered  like 
a  heroine  of  romance  that  if  she  could  not  have  Mr.  Rich 
she  would  never  marry  anybody.  No  chaperon  seems  to 
have  been  put  in  charge  of  the  young  lady,  and  her  lover 
was  not  slow  in  following  her  from  town  and  urging  his 
suit.  Then  old  Lord  Goring  very  good-naturedly  came 
forward  and  tried  to  bring  Lord  Cork  round,  and  at  last  his 
persuasions,  joined  with  those  of  Lord  Holland  and  Lord 
Warwick,  induced  the  irritated  father  to  consent  to  an  engage- 
ment, but  he  marked  his  displeasure  by  only  promising  a  very 
moderate  fortune  to  his  troublesome  daughter.  Then  Mary 

1  Letters,  Dorothy  Osborne,  129. 


Jftff//,     ffff  fr/ft /•('/    ,  //f'ffffff/ 


SAVOY   WEDDINGS  349 

was  brought  home  and  fell  on  her  knees  and  promised  to  be 
a  good  girl,  and  directly  after,  went  off  with  Mr.  Rich  and 
was  privately  married  at  a  village  church  near  Hampton ! 
She  says  she  was  averse  to  a  public  wedding,  but  it  may  be 
suspected  that  the  romance  of  an  elopement  had  as  much  to 
do  with  the  escapade  as  her  modest  hatred  of  display. 

Lord  Cork  was  naturally  very  angry,  but  he  made  the 
best  of  it  when  he  wrote  to  Whalley,  saying  :  '  The  marriage 
of  my  daughter  Mary,  unlocked  for,  to  the  Earl  of  Warwick's 
son,  occasions  me  to  pay  him  £5000  of  the  £7000  portion 
before  I  leave  this  town,  praying  you  to  be  very  careful  to 
get  in  all  my  rents  and  debts  and  arrears,  for  I  shall  come 
home  like  a  spent  salmon,  and  as  weak  and  empty  as  may 
be.'1  This  is  the  solitary  allusion  to  Mary's  wedding  to  be 
found  among  the  Lismore  records ;  the  Earl  was  too  much 
hurt  to  make  any  note  in  his  diary  on  the  subject. 

Lord  Cork  must,  however,  have  found  some  consolation 
in  the  end  of  BroghiU's  love  affairs.  He  indeed  *  gained  a 
loss'  when  he  lost  Mrs.  Harrison  and  won  Lady  Margaret 
Howard,  third  daughter  of  the  Earl  of  Suffolk,  the  radiant 
creature  whose  wedding  is  celebrated  in  Suckling's  well-known 
poem,  when 

4  No  sun  upon  an  Easter-day 
Was  half  so  fine  a  sight.' 

They  were  married  in  Lord  D'Aubigne's  house  in  Queen 
Street,  Co  vent  Garden,  on  the  2yth  of  January  1640.  The 
bride's  portion  was  ^"5000,  to  which  Lord  Cork  added  another 
£5000.  Possibly  this  was  in  land,  as  most  of  the  Munster 
estates  already  assigned  to  Broghill  by  the  Septpartite  convey- 
ance were  brought  into  the  marriage  settlement,  and  a  rent- 
charge  of  ^500  a  year  secured  to  Lady  Margaret  with  the  house 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  4.  210. 


350     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

at  Broghill.  For  an  English  home  Lord  Cork  bought  them 
the  Manor  of  Marston  Bigot  in  Somerset,  paying  ^10,350  for 
it  to  Sir  John  Eppsley.  Lord  Cork  told  Whalley,  c  it  hath  a 
fair  house,  with  orchards,  gardens  and  pleasant  walks  about  it. 
1  durst  not  but  give  you  this  account  for  my  great  disburse- 
ment of  money  for  fear  you  should  think  London  hath  made 
me  unthrift,  and  I  spend  my  money  as  my  son  Kinalmeaky 
does.' 

The  generosity  of  the  settlement  shows  that  Lord  Cork 
was  well  pleased  with  Roger's  choice,  and  t  Lady  Peg,'  as  her 
brothers-in-law  called  her,  proved  to  be  as  good  as  she  was 
beautiful,  and  in  Robert  Boyle's  words  was  f  the  great  support, 
ornament,  and  comfort  of  the  family.' 


CHAPTER    XX 
THE   OPENING  OF  THE  LONG  PARLIAMENT 

'  StrafFord  called  this  Parliament,  you  say  ? 
But  we  Ml  not  have  our  Parliaments  like  those  in  Ireland !  ' 

BROWNING,  Strafford. 

THE  peace  which  the  King  patched  up  with  the  Scots  in  the 
autumn  of  1639  was  so  manifestly  hollow,  that  both  sides 
continued  their  warlike  preparations  without  any  disguise, 
and  the  King  called  to  his  help  the  one  strong  man  in 
whom  he  could  trust.  Wentworth  came  over  from  Ireland  at 
his  summons  and  gave  him  an  unexpected  counsel ;  he  advised 
the  King  to  call  a  Parliament.  The  Irish  Parliament  had 
been  taught  to  grovel  at  his  feet,  and  he  vowed  that  England 
should  now  learn  the  same  lesson,  even  though  Sir  John  Eliot 
should  come  to  life  again  to  oppose  him.  The  King  agreed, 
and  even  marked  his  approval  of  the  policy  by  creating  his 
councillor  Earl  of  StrafFord,  and  raising  him  from  Deputy  to 
be  Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  all  of  which  favours  Cork  duly 
noted  in  his  diary,  but  made  no  comment. 

The  party  that  was  forming  to  oppose  the  growing 
influence  of  StrafFord  upon  English  afFairs  naturally  hoped  to 
have  the  support  of  Lord  Cork,  who  knew  better  than  any 
man  what  the  rule  of  Thorough  had  been  in  Ireland.  But 
Cork  was  wary,  and  did  not  betray  his  real  opinions  even  to 
the  pages  of  his  private  diary.  It  is  possible  that  he  saw  that 
StrafFord  was  necessary  to  the  King,  and  loyally  refused  to 


851 


352     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

oppose  the  man  whom  his  Majesty  delighted  to  honour  ;  on 
the  other  hand  it  is  quite  probable  that  Cork  suspected  that 
Straffbrd's  rash  meddling  with  English  politics  was  sufficient 
to  bring  ruin  on  his  head  without  any  interference  from  the 
Irish  nobility.  Whichever  case  was  the  true  one,  it  is  certain 
that  Cork  knew  very  well  that  he  was  still  in  Strafford's  power. 
The  permission  granted  him  to  reside  in  England  might  be 
revoked  any  minute,  when  he  would  have  to  creep  back  to 
Ireland  into  the  very  jaws  of  the  lion.  The  new  grant  of  his 
property  at  Youghal  was  not  yet  signed,  and  his  western  estates 
and  castle  of  Beleek  were  threatened  by  the  Plantation  which 
Strafford  was  busily  carrying  out  in  Connaught.  The  great 
Earl  of  Cork  was  not  so  childish  as  to  risk  his  liberty  and 
lands  for  the  mere  pleasure  of  gossiping  about  the  Lord 
Lieutenant. 

In  fact,  ever  since  he  arrived  in  England,  Cork's  attitude 
had  been  so  diplomatic  and  his  language  so  urbane  that  Laud  had 
written  with  surprise  and  pleasure  to  tell  Strafford,  that  Lord 
Cork  *  coming  to  take  his  leave  of  me  before  his  return  into 
Dorsetshire,  where  he  means  to  expect  the  spring  for  the  use 
of  the  Bath,  we  had  a  little  more  free  discourse  ;  and  truly, 
my  Lord  did  to  me  speak  as  much  good  of  your  Lordship  as 
any  friend  you  have  could,  for  your  prudence,  your  indefatig- 
able industry  and  most  impartial  justice,  with  a  protestation 
that  he  never  spake  any  other  language  since  his  coming  over, 
nor  ever  meant  to  do,  and  concluded  with  all  this  that  you 
were  the  best  servant  of  the  Crown  that  ever  came  into  those 
parts  ;  he  hath  likewise  promised  me  some  money  for  St. 
Pauls'.  This  I  thought  fit  to  let  you  know,  the  rather  because 
if  I  be  not  much  mistaken,  he  hath  been  solicited  to  speak 
other  language.' l 

1  Strafford  Letters,  ii.  245. 


OPENING  OF   THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT     353 

Strafford  cared  as  little  for  praise  as  for  blame,  and  acknow- 
ledged Laud's  account  of  Cork's  compliments  with  haughty 
condescension.1 

'  As  for  my  Lord  Cork,  I  cannot  deny  but  that  his  carriage 
therein  is  more  noble  than  I  expected,  it  must  be  confessed 
(howbeit  nothing  but  just  and  honourable  on  my  part,  and  that 
singly  with  respect  to  the  matter,  not  prejudiced  against  the 
person),  his  Lordship  hath  in  a  judicial  way  had  more  taken 
from  him  than  any  one,  nay,  than  any  six  in  the  kingdom 
besides  ;  so  as  in  this  proceeding  with  me,  I  do  acknowledge 
his  ingenuity  as  well  as  justice.' 

It  was  only  by  special  grace  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant  that 
Cork  could  be  excused  from  returning  to  sit  in  the  Irish 
Parliament  which  Strafford  was  now  summoning  together. 
Cork  when  writing  to  acknowledge  this  favour  took  the 
opportunity  to  beg  the  Lord  Lieutenant  to  deal  mercifully 
with  his  Connaught  estates  : — 

'  March  16,  1640. 

'MAY  IT  PLEASE  YOUR  LORDSHIP, — Mr.  Raylton2  in  the 
evening  of  the  I4th  of  this  month  sent  me  his  Majesty's 
writ  of  summons  to  appear  the  :6th  of  the  same  month  at 
the  Parliament  now  to  be  holden  in  Dublin.  And  therewith 
his  Majesty's  gracious  letter  dispensing  my  appearance  in 
pursuance  of  your  noble  promise,  together  with  a  blank 
warrant  of  proxie  for  me  to  fill  up.  And  when  I  had  humbly 
made  known  to  his  Majesty  that  I  had  made  choice  of  the 
Earl  of  Ormond  to  answer  for  me  in  Parliament  and  that  my 
two  sons  who  had  received  the  writs  [Kinalmeaky  and  Broghill] 
were  both  under  age,  his  Majesty  was  pleased  to  approve  of 
my  choice  of  the  Earl  of  Ormond  and  to  express  his  pleasure 
that  in  regard  my  sons  were  both  minors,  and  not  of  years  to 

1  Strafford  Letters,  \i.  271.  *  StrafFord's  English  agent. 

Z 


354     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

grant  proxies,  that  those  writs  of  summons  should  be  void  and 
no  further  proceedings  upon  them.  ...  I  humbly  beseech 
your  Lordship  to  give  me  leave  to  put  you  in  mind  of  the 
noble  professions  you  vouchsafed  unto  me  of  your  favour  in 
all  my  just  and  honest  causes,  and  to  be  so  indulgent  unto  me 
as  that  I  may  find  the  like  respect  to  be  given  unto  me  as  unto 
other  noblemen  of  my  quality,  whose  Connaught  lands  are 
fallen  within  the  compass  of  plantations,  as  mine  there  are,  the 
rather  that  I  purchased  them  for  valuable  considerations  and 
have  enjoyed  them  this  forty  years.  And  in  the  general  revolt 
of  that  province,  maintained  my  then  besieged  castle  of  Belleck 
with  a  strong  ward  at  my  own  charge,  until  the  Queen's  force 
under  Sir  Robert  Fowle,  Provost  Martial  of  Connaught,  were 
employed  to  relieve  it,  and  were  defeated  by  the  way,  and  he 
slain  ;  yet  John  Floyd  who  was  my  constable  there,  with  my 
ward,  defended  it  and  killed  sundry  of  the  rebels  who  besieged 
it,  which  caused  the  enemy  to  begirt  it  so  straitly  as  they  took 
away  from  them  their  water,  and  thereby  compelled  them  by 
laying  sheets  on  the  top  of  the  castle  to  get  the  dew  to  stint 
their  thirst.  And  in  conclusion  when  they  were  hopeless  of 
all  relief,  they  were  promised  if  they  would  yield  up  the  castle, 
they  should  go  away  without  any  drop  of  blood  to  be  drawn 
upon  them.  But  when  the  rebels  were  on  those  terms  pos- 
sessed of  the  castle,  they  took  my  ward  and  hanged  them  all, 
except  the  constable,  in  revenge  of  their  fellow  rebels  whom 
they  had  slain  and  demolished.  Whereupon  I  rebuilt  my 
castle  which  had  the  honour  to  receive  your  Lordship  one 
night  in  your  Connaught  progress  ;  which  I  humbly  offer  to 
your  Lordship  the  better  to  induce  you  to  continue  me  therein 
during  my  leases,  and  not  to  suffer  the  Lord  Lambert  ...  to 
have  the  rendition  of  it.  ...  But  I  hope  your  Lordship  will 
be  so  gracious  unto  me  that  if  I  may  not  have  all  my  Con- 


OPENING   OF   THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT     355 

naught  land  confirmed  unto  me  by  this  Commission  of  grace, 
yet  at  the  least  your  Lordship  will  deign  to  let  me  be  tenant 
of  the  other  fourth  part  thereof  that  is  to  fall  to  his  Majesty 
by  course  of  plantation,  I  paying  such  increase  of  rent  as  a 
new  planter  should  do,  otherwise  my  tenants  and  farmers  will 
be  much  disappointed  on  part  of  their  several  farms,  and  I 
thereby  driven  to  make  them  new  leases  at  proportionate  rent  ; 
which  will  be  great  vexation  to  them  and  trouble  to  me.' 

In  April  1 640,  the  much  desired  English  Parliament  met, 
but  instead  of  taking  the  preparations  for  the  Scotch  war  into 
consideration,  the  Houses  proceeded  to  count  up  the  ecclesias- 
tical and  political  grievances  that  had  accumulated  during  the 
long  eleven  years  of  Charles's  personal  government.  The 
irritated  King  made  short  work  of  their  complaints.  On  the 
5th  of  May  Lord  Cork  wrote:  'This  doleful  Tuesday  the 
Parliament  was  dissolved  before  any  Act  was  past,  to  my 
great  grief  of  heart,  as  also  to  the  deep  sorrow  of  many  good 
subjects,  it  having  continued  but  three  weeks  and  one  day.' 

Lord  Cork's  '  grief  of  heart '  only  arose  from  the  condition 
of  the  kingdom,  his  own  affairs  were  prosperous.  On  the 
28th  of  June  he  writes  : — 

'  This  Sunday  I  was  in  the  Council  Chamber  in  the  Court 
of  Whitehall  sworn  of  his  Majesty's  most  honourable  Privy 
Council  of  England  with  great  grace  and  favour  from  his 
Majesty  and  all  the  Lords  ;  for  which  addition  of  honour 
God  make  me  everlastingly  thankful  to  my  God  and  King.' 

Possibly  this  favour  was  done  to  the  Earl  with  some 
thought  of  conciliating  the  moderate  and  old-fashioned  party 
among  the  nobility,  possibly  with  an  eye  to  certain  favours  to 
come  from  him  in  return,  for  Cottington  immediately  bent 
all  his  powers  of  persuasion  to  induce  him  to  promise  to  lend 


356     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

£$ooo  for  the  royal  necessities,  no  doubt  pointing  to  the  large 
loans  already  given  by  the  other  members  of  the  English  Privy 
Council  when  Coventry,  Manchester,  and  Newcastle  each 
subscribed  ,£10,000. 

It  was  not  easy  for  Lord  Cork  to  refuse  such  a  demand  ; 
but  the  difficulty  of  raising  the  money,  and  the  unreasonable- 
ness of  asking  him  for  it,  in  view  of  the  great  sacrifices  he  had 
already  made,  drove  him  to  appeal  to  the  King  himself. 

On  the  6th  of  July  he  sent  for  a  hackney  coach,  and  drove 
out  with  Lady  Dungarvan  and  Betty  to  Oatlands,  where  the 
court  was  spending  the  summer.  There  Lady  Denbigh  pro- 
cured him  an  audience  with  both  their  Majesties,  and  he 
recounted  to  them  all  the  vast  sums  he  had  disbursed  for  the 
public  service,  ^f  36,000  as  his  share  of  the  subsidies  raised  in 
Ireland,  and  ^2400  for  that  now  due,  besides  the  ^15,000 
fine  imposed  on  him  for  his  possession  of  Youghal,  and  ^5000 
he  had  spent  in  furnishing  his  sons  for  the  Scotch  war.  Even 
the  King  was  obliged  to  admit  that  Lord  Cork  had  borne  no 
small  share  of  public  expenses,  and  was  graciously  pleased  to 
free  him  from  lending  the  £5000,  when  Lord  Cork  entreated 
his  Majesty  to  accept  a  free  present  of  one  thousand  gold 
pieces  the  next  Michaelmas,  '  which  he  did.' 

Two  days  later,  the  8th  of  July,  being  the  day  appointed 
for  a  national  fast,  Lord  Cork  left  London  with  Broghill  very 
early,  and  drove  to  Egham,  and  '  came  to  the  beginning  of 
prayers,  and  there  kept  our  fast  and  devotion.'  They  did  not 
return  to  London,  for  the  King  was  going  north  to  the  army, 
and  most  of  the  nobility  were  collecting  troops  to  follow  him. 
Barrymore  once  again  was  straining  his  slender  means  to  bring 
men  to  the  royal  standard.  He  came  out  to  Egham  '  to 
bemoan  himself  to  his  father-in-law  '  that  except  I  did  now 
supply  him  with  another  hundred  pounds  he  could  not  follow 


OPENING   OF   THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT     357 

his  regiment  of  twelve  hundred  to  Scotland,  nor  free  his  wife, 
children  and  servants  out  of  England,'  so  of  course  Lord 
Cork  provided  the  money,  and  also  gave  Lord  Barrymore 
f  one  of  my  own  coach  horses,  Grey  Purdan,  for  his  baggage 
waggon.' 

In  August  Broghill  started  for  the  north.  *  I  have  this 
day  sent  my  son  Broghill  towards  York  with  ^1000  in  gold, 
to  be  by  him  presented  to  his  Majesty  as  my  free  gift  and 
tribute  of  my  duty  and  humble  respect  to  his  Highness  in  these 
troublesome  times  wherein  I  am  neither  able  to  wait  upon  him 
in  person  nor  lend  him  monies  as  I  desire,  but  of  this  my 
poor  gratuity  I  expect  no  repayment.' 

Half  the  treasure  Broghill  carried  on  his  saddle-bow, 
riding  his  father's  own  horse  Grey  Coote,  the  other  five 
hundred  was  carried  by  his  kinsman,  Jack  Travers,  who  rode 
with  him.  Kinalmeaky  did  not  accompany  them,  but  went 
round  by  London. 

It  has  been  said  that  when  the  historian  Macaulay  wished 
to  please  his  father,  he  filled  his  letters  with  anecdotes  on  the 
slavery  question,  just  as  Frederick  the  Great  conciliated  his 
own  terrible  parent  by  presents  of  extra  tall  recruits  for  his 
famous  Potsdam  Guards.1  Kinalmeaky  was  certainly  a  past 
master  in  the  craft  of  propitiating  a  father,  and  knew 
exactly  when  to  slip  in  an  anecdote  about  the  King  or 
a  jeer  at  Strafford,  to  divert  his  irate  parent's  attention 
from  his  tailor's  bills  or  debauches.  The  result  is  that 
his  are  the  only  amusing  letters  among  the  piles  of  family 
correspondence.  His  letters  from  York  give  some  good  bits 
of  gossip. 

*  MY  MOST  HONOURED  LORD  FATHER, — My  last  certified 

1  Trevelyan,  Life  of  Macaulay,  i.  139. 


358     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

your  Lordship  the  irremediable  cause  that  stayed  me  so  long 
in  London  ;  this  assures  your  Lordship  that,  God  be  praised, 
I  arrived  safe  at  York  the  29th  of  last  month  (September). 
Nor  could  I  expedite  my  journey  sooner,  my  horses  being 
pursey,  the  way  long  and  almost  unpassably  ill,  by  reason  of 
the  great  abundance  of  cattle  driven  from  these  parts  into 
those  :  I  myself  having  met  at  least  80,000  head  of  Northern 
and  Scotch  cattle.  The  extreme  rains  did  also  very  much 
deepen  the  ways  and  raise  the  waters.  .  .  .  The  night  of  his 
Majesty's  return  (from  Hull)  my  Lord  Denbigh  presented 
me  to  my  Lord  Marquis1  who  received  me  with  very  noble 
and  courteous  gesture  and  words  and  immediately  brought  me 
to  kiss  the  King's  hand. — I  am  all  day,  unless  it  be  when  his 
Majesty  goes  into  the  field,  at  court,  waiting  on  the  King  or 
on  my  good  Lord  Marquis,  to  whose  kind  respects  I  am 
infinitely  bound  :  he  allows  me  at  all  hours  free  access  to  him 
when  he  is  abed,  lends  me  his  horses  and  is  very  noble  to  me. 
I  waited  often  on  my  Lord  Duke 2  at  piquet  till  this  sad  mis- 
chance which  he  heard  of  yesterday  and  is  extremely  sad.  I 
carry  a  musket  next  my  Lord  Denbigh  in  my  Lord  Marquis 
(who  hath  a  gallant  regiment  of  1600  able  and  expert  men, 
for  the  King's  guard  at  quarters  at  York,  and  the  only 
regiment  here)  his  own  regiment.  The  King  being  th'  other 
day  in  the  field,  viewing  my  Lord  Marquis  his  company,  and 
seeing  there  my  Lord  Denbigh,  little  Will  Murray  and  I,  said, 
"  There  are  three  musketeers  that  I  know,  and  by  God,"  said 
he,  "  they  are  three  hot  shots."  The  King  when  he  is  neither 
in  the  field,  where  he  is  constantly  every  fair  day,  nor  at 
council,  passes  most  of  his  time  at  chess  with  the  Marquis  of 

1  The  Marquis  of  Hamilton  and  Lord  Kinalmeaky,  it  may  be  remembered, 
had  married  sisters. 

2  Duke  of  Lennox. 


OPENING   OF  THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT     359 

Winchester.  Some  three  days  since  the  King,  long  studying 
how  to  play  a  Bishop,  the  Marquis  of  Winchester  blurted 
out,  "  See,  Sir,  how  troublesome  these  Bishops  are  in  jest 
and  earnest,"  the  King  replied  nothing,  but  looked  very 
grum.  .  .  .' 

Then  follows  an  account  of  a  squabble  of  the  Lord  Lieu- 
tenant of  Ireland  with  the  Earl  of  Newport  and  Colonel 
Aston,  which  no  doubt  pleased  Lord  Cork  well  to  hear. 
Strafford  at  this  time  was  racked  by  gout  and  dysentery,  and 
it  was  natural  that  the  King  should  graciously  desire  to  save 
him  fatigue,  but  this  simple  act  of  royal  kindness  only 
increased  the  jealousy  with  which  the  great  favourite  was 
eyed  by  the  court. 

'  Yesterday,'  writes  Kinalmeaky,  '  in  the  afternoon  the 
King  walking  in  the  garden  attended  only  by  the  Lord  Duke, 
the  Lord  Denbigh  and  myself,  the  Lord  Lieutenant  sent  to 
know  when  his  Majesty  would  allow  him  the  honour  of 
waiting  upon  him  to  inform  him  of  some  business  that  con- 
cerned him,  his  indisposition  not  permitting  him  to  wait 
being  the  cause  of  his  presumption.  The  King  bid  him  take 
his  own  time  and  he  would  expect  him,  and  immediately  sent 
my  Lord  of  Denbigh  to  expect  his  coming  and  to  desire  him 
not  to  give  himself  the  trouble  of  coming  to  the  garden,  but 
to  go  into  the  King's  bedchamber  where  he  would  come  to 
him.  The  King  waited  two  long  hours  in  the  garden  before 
my  Lord  Lieutenant  came.  The  King  immediately  went  with 
him  and  there  talked  hand  to  hand  some  three  hours,  until 
prayers.  My  Lord  Bristol  gets  small  countenance  from  the 
King,  and  his  good  looks  from  the  Lord  Lieutenant.' 

Kinalmeaky  then  goes  on  to  repeat  the  King's  criti- 
cisms on  a  pamphlet  drawn  up  by  the  Scots  to  give  their 
reasons  for  taking  arms.  The  King  said,  *  it  was  the  simplest 


360    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

thing  that  ever  he  read,  so  uncivil  that  he  wondered  much 
they  would  own  it,  and  so  peremptory,  that  unless  they  said 
to  the  Lords,  to  whom  it  was  doubtless  intended,  We  come 
hither  by  divine  inspiration,  and  therefore  unless  you  co- 
operate with  us,  that  is,'  said  the  King,  '  become  as  arrant 
traitors  as  we,  and  ranker  there  are  not,  by  God,  in  the  world, 
we  will  cut  your  throats.' 

The  King  had  a  shrewd  enough  wit,  and  he  usually  had 
logic  on  his  side  ;  but  alas,  when  it  came  to  the  arbitrament  of 
blows,  the  '  arrant  traitors '  were  too  much  for  the  royal  forces. 
They  crossed  the  Tyne  at  Newburn,  and  routed  the  English 
with  such  ease  that  the  first  skirmish  practically  ended  the 
war.  It  was  obvious  to  all  the  King  must  make  terms,  and 
the  Council  of  English  peers,  whom  he  called  to  his  assistance 
at  York,  unanimously  agreed  that  the  only  resource  was  at 
last  to  summon  a  parliament  in  Westminster. 

When  the  welcome  news  that  the  King  had  consented  to 
call  a  parliament  reached  London,  Lettice  Goring  quickly 
forwarded  the  good  tidings  to  her  father,  writing  on  the 
2yth  of  September  : — 

'My    MOST    HONOURED  LORD    AND    DEAREST  FATHER, If 

I  had  not  with  chance  met  with  Terrence  going  speedily 
towards  your  Lordship  I  had,  in  obedience  to  your  command 
of  sending  you  what  news  I  heard  from  the  army,  dispatched 
a  letter  purposely  to  your  Lordship  to  let  you  know  I  have 
this  day  received  a  packet  of  letters  from  Mr.  Goring — which 
are  full  of  good  news  and  great  hopes  of  a  speedy  conclusion 
to  all  things  and  the  King's  speedy  return.  The  Lords  and 
his  Majesty  agree  so  well  that  he  consents  to  all  they  desire. 
A  parliament  we  shall  have  very  speedily.  I  have  sent  your 
Lordship  the  names  of  the  Lords  that  are  to  go  Com- 


OPENING   OF   THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT     361 

missioners  to  the  Scots,  who  do  great  injuries  to  the  people  in 
and  about  Newcastle.  This  gentleman,  who  came  post  from 
Mr.  Goring,  tells  me  that  they  have  taken  all  their  money, 
but  that  they  still  enjoy  their  goods,  but  were  forced  to  give 
the  Scots  an  inventory  of  all  the  goods  they  have  in  their 
houses,  and  that  they  have  taken  all  their  mills  into  their 
hands,  and  their  corn,  and  will  not  suffer  them  to  grind  a  grain 
for  their  own  use,  but  they  grind  and  bake  all  the  corn,  and 
they  must  buy  bread  of  them  and  pay  two  pence  for  a  penny 
loaf.  They  also  take  their  fat  oxen,  and  for  them  they  give 
them  half  a  crown  in  money  and  a  ticket  for  the  rest.  ...  I 
cannot  express  to  your  Lordship  how  much  the  City  is  joyed 
at  the  news  of  a  parliament.  I  hope  your  Lordship  will  be 
speedily  here,  my  Lady  Goring  commanded  me  to  tell  your 
Lordship  she  desires  it  extremely.  I  let  her  know  your  Lord- 
ship's favour  to  my  Lord  which  she  is  very  sensible  of,  and 
extremely  kind  to  me.  I  beseech  your  Lordship  make  haste 
to  town,  which  will  very  much  joy,  my  Lord,  your  Lordship's 
all  obedient  daughter,  L.  GORING.' 

Dungarvan  had  been  elected  member  for  Appleby  in  the 
coming  Parliament,  and  his  father  was  exceedingly  anxious  to 
obtain  leave  to  sit  among  the  Lords,  which,  as  an  Irish  peer, 
he  could  only  do  by  courtesy.  As  usual,  Lord  Cork  turned 
for  help  to  his  old  friend  Stafford,  and  Sir  Thomas  wrote  to 
say  he  was  delighted  to  do  all  in  his  power.  It  grieved  him 
and  his  wife,  he  continued,  to  hear  that  the  fatigues  of  the 
gay  season  of  the  previous  year  had  tried  the  Earl  so  much 
that  he  would  not  again  set  up  house  at  the  Savoy.  *  But 
when  it  shall  please  the  All  Disposer  to  give  yours  (i.e.  your 
children)  a  happy  return  into  Ireland,  and  that  your  Lord- 
ship's occasions  call  you  to  reside  here,  rather  than  you  should 


362     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

lodge  under  any  roof  but  ours,  I  would  serve  you  and  be  a 
steward,  cook,  cater  or  anything,  and  may  the  Savoy  House 
be  reduced  to  a  heap  of  ashes,  if  you  be  not  as  really  and 
heartily  welcome  there  as  to  those  in  the  world  that  love  you 
most  heartily.' 

Lord  Cork  was  granted  his  desire,  and  '  was  by  writ  called 
into  the  Upper  House  by  his  Majesty's  great  grace,'  not  as  a 
member,  but  to  take  his  place  with  Lord  Wilmot,  Lord  New- 
burgh,  and  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  as  *  Assistants,  sitting  on 
the  inside  of  the  woolsack.' l 

This  winter  Lord  Cork  decided  to  board  with  Lettice 
Goring.  She  was  thrown  into  a  great  flutter  of  excitement  by 
the  prospect,  for  although  she  was  enchanted  at  the  thought 
of  getting  her  father  to  herself,  and  out  of  the  hands  of  her 
older  and  cleverer  sisters,  she  was  rather  alarmed  at  the 
responsibility  of  caring  for  such  an  important  guest.  Her 
letter  is  dated  London,  September  27,  1640. 

*  MY    MOST    HONOURED    LORD    AND     DEAREST    FATHER, 

My  heart  was  never  so  much  nor  so  truly  joyed  as  it  hath 
been  since  the  receipt  of  your  Lordship's  last  letter,  which 
assures  me,  to  my  very  great  content,  that  your  Lordship  is 
pleased  truly  to  understand  and  accept  of  my  true  and  hearty 
desires  to  serve  your  Lordship  in  all  things  my  power  can 
reach  to,  which  I  call  God  to  witness  I  do  as  willingly  as  ever 
I  did  anything  in  my  life,  and  if  it  were  possible  your  Lord- 
ship could  see  my  heart  you  would  there  find  it  more  loving 
and  dutiful  to  you  than  either  my  pen  or  words  can  express 
here.  In  my  last  I  was  very  loth,  but  since  I  have  thought 
fit  to  let  your  Lordship  know,  that  you  have  somebody  about 
you  very  false  to  you  and  very  true  to  somebody  else,  for 

1  Lords  Journals, 


OPENING   OF   THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT     363 

about  six  hours  before  I  received  your  Lordship's  first  letter 
of  coming  hither,  my  sister  Jones  told  me  that  your  Lordship 
was  resolved  to  live  with  me  this  winter.  And  when  I  pro- 
tested to  her  that  I  knew  no  such  thing,  she  did  not  believe  it, 
but  thought  I  dissembled,  for  she  said  she  knew  it  was  true, 
and  she  told  it  to  all  her  servants  before  I  received  your 
Lordship's  letter,  which  was  the  cause  I  spoke  to  my  Lord 
Goring  of  it ;  for  as  soon  as  he  came  in  I  guessed  by  his 
speech  that  he  had  heard  of  it.  So  I  told  him,  fearing  he 
would  take  it  ill,  and  truly  he  was  the  most  joyed  man  in  the 
world  with  the  content  he  promised  himself  this  winter  with 
your  Lordship's  company,  for  he  says  he  could  not  endure  to 
come  to  you  last  winter  there  was  such  a  crowd  of  ladies  and 
other  company.  Yesterday  as  soon  as  I  received  your  Lord- 
ship's letter  I  went  to  wait  on  him,  but  did  not  find  him  or 
my  Lady  at  home,  and  I  am  just  now  come  from  them  but 
again  missed  him,  for  he  was  gone  abroad  with  the  Queen,  so 
that  I  cannot  by  this  post  send  your  Lordship  an  absolute 
answer  for  my  sister  Marie's  coming  hither  till  I  speak  with 
him.  .  .  .  He  is  extremely  kind  to  me,  he  has  made  me  a 
present  of  seven  the  best  coach  horses  in  England.' 

She  explains  then  that  her  sister  Kinalmeaky  has  some 
plate  of  the  Earl's  ready  to  deliver  to  him,  and  encloses  a  note 
of  the  things  he  will  need  to  bring  from  the  country,  '  to 
furnish  the  wardrobe  withal.' 

'  As  for  plate  we  have  but  a  dozen  of  dishes,  whereof  I  have 
but  three  here,  the  rest  Mr.  Goring  hath  at  York,  for  none  of 
his  things  have  come  back,  nor  shall  till  the  peace  be  con- 
cluded. Therefore,  if  your  Lordship  please,  I  desire  you 
would  bring  with  you  a  dozen  and  a  half  of  the  very  biggest 
dishes  you  have,  and  no  little  ones.  Two  dozen  of  plates  and 
three  pair  of  silver  candlesticks,  for  I  have  but  one  pair  and 


364     LIFE  OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

two  voyders.1  If  your  Lordship  had  not  rather  lie  in  your 
own  sheets  than  any  other,  I  have  very  fine  ones,  which  I  shall 
never  think  so  well  employed  as  to  lay  in  your  Lordship's  bed. 
Your  Lordship's  chamber  here  will  be  very  quiet,  far  from  the 
kitchen  or  any  offices  of  the  house  that  may  offend  it,  and 
nobody  lies  either  over  or  under  it,  but  Will  Barber  hath  a 
chamber  with  a  chimney  close  by  it,  and  back  stairs  very  con- 
venient, and  your  Lordship  may  be  very  confident  I  will  not 
have  more  care  of  my  life  than  I  will  have  to  please  you.  .  .  . 
For  the  expense  of  the  house  I  will  against  your  coming  to 
town  cast  it  up  to  a  certainty  .  .  .  but  I  call  God  to  witness 
that  only  your  Lordship's  quiet  and  content  is  the  reason  that 
I  desire  the  honour  of  your  company,  for  I  do  not,  like  others, 
desire  to  save  by  you,  for  I  will  spend  to  the  uttermost  farthing. 
More  I  am  not  able  to  do  ;  if  I  were,  God  knows  I  would  do 
it  very  willingly,  for  as  I  formerly  writ  to  your  Lordship,  it 
grieved  my  very  soul  to  see  you  so  troubled  the  last  winter. 
.  .  .  My  sister  Jones  hath  taken  so  ill  a  house  for  my  brother 
Dungarvan  in  the  worst  side  of  St.  Martin's  Lane  that  I 
cannot  but  wonder  at  it.  The  best  rooms  look  on  the  dung- 
hill of  my  Lord  Salisbury's  stable,  and  the  coach  and  horses 
come  under  the  dining-room  like  any  inn,  so  that  they  will 
have  perpetual  noise.  Besides,  the  rooms  are  all  extream 
little,  but  I  beseech  your  Lordship  to  take  no  notice  of  it  from 
me,  though  I  cannot  but  choose  wonder  at  it,  so  doth  my  good 
sister  Kildare,  who  presents  her  humble  duty  to  your  Lordship.' 
Clearly  there  was  no  love  lost  between  Lettice  and  her 
'  sister  Jones,'  that  '  good  arithmetician  '  who  was  even  trusted 
with  the  keys  of  her  father-in-law's  money-box,  and  whom 
Stafford  held  up  as  a  model  housekeeper  to  the  rest  of  the 
family ! 

1  Baskets  for  broken  meat. — Johnson. 


OPENING   OF  THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT     365 

It  was  all  very  well  to  settle  how  many  silver  plates  his 
Lordship  would  need  to  eat  his  dinner  off,  but  there  was  some- 
thing far  more  difficult  to  be  settled  before  he  could  leave 
Stalbridge ;  what  was  to  be  done  with  Mrs.  Betty  ?  One 
cannot  but  spare  a  little  sympathy  for  the  pretty  creature  who 
had  been  the  spoilt  child  of  the  court,  and  was  now  imprisoned 
in  a  dull  country  mansion  with  a  severe  and  aged  father-in- 
law  !  It  appears  that  it  would  not  have  been  etiquette  for  her 
to  return  to  her  mother's  house,  so  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  wrote 
in  some  anxiety  :  '  For  Betty,  I  have  commission  from  my 
dame  to  wish  that  she  might  be  left  in  good  hands  in  the 
country  till  the  spring.  If  that  cannot  be  done  with  con- 
venience, then  she  bids  me  tell  your  Lordship  that  she  will  use 
her  best  care  to  enquire  out  some  fit  place  for  her  to  sojourn.' 

The  difficulty  was  solved  by  Lady  Dungarvan  taking 
charge  of  both  Betty  and  Mary  and  their  maids,  for  whose 
diet  for  six  months  Lord  Cork  paid  sixty  pounds. 

After  reading  these  chronicles  of  small  beer,  and  hearing 
of  these  tempests  in  teacups,  it  is  with  a  strange  thrill  that  we 
remember  what  it  was  they  were  so  eagerly  hastening  up  to  see. 

One's  thoughts  go  back  to  the  days  of  Noah  when  '  they 
were  eating  and  drinking,  marrying  and  giving  in  marriage, 
till  the  flood  came  and  took  them  all  away.'  For  ten  years  the 
personal  rule  of  the  King  had  dammed  back  the  rising  tide 
of  popular  discontent ;  the  meeting  of  the  Long  Parliament 
opened  the  floodgates.  The  England  of  Elizabeth  and  James 
was  to  be  swept  away,  and  few  of  those  who  were  now  hurry- 
ing up  to  London  with  gay  anticipations  or  heroic  resolves, 
would  survive  to  see  the  new  world  emerge  from  the  chaos  of 
the  great  rebellion. 

The  stateliest  figure  was  the  first  to  disappear.  Lord  Cork 
writes  : — 


366     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

'February  n,  1641. — This  day  the  Earl  of  Strafford, 
Lord  Lieutenant  of  Ireland,  was  by  a  committee  from  the 
House  of  Commons  by  Mr.  Pym,  accused  to  the  Upper 
House  in  Parliament  for  high  treason,  which  he  said  was  not 
only  the  complaint  of  that  House  presented  in  the  name  of  the 
Lower  House,  but  in  the  name  of  the  whole  kingdom,  with 
humble  request  that  his  Lordship  might  not  only  be  seques- 
tered from  the  place  of  a  peer  in  Parliament,  but  might  also 
be  committed  to  prison,  which  the  Lords  taking  into  deep 
consideration,  his  Lordship  was  called  into  the  House  as  a 
delinquent  and  brought  to  the  bar  upon  his  knees  (I  sitting  in 
my  place  covered),  when  the  charge  of  high  treason  being 
objected  against  him,  he  not  being  permitted  to  speak  in  his 
defence,  was  presently  committed  to  Sir  J.  Maxwell.  And 
this  his  dejection  shows  the  uncertainty  whereunto  the  greatest 
men  are  subject  unto.' 

'  I  sitting  in  my  place  covered  ! '  Time  had  indeed 
brought  the  revenge  he  desired  to  the  Earl  of  Cork  !  Never- 
theless, fortune  is  proverbially  fickle,  and  the  doom  of 
Strafford  was  not  yet  certain.  It  was  still  possible  that, 
strong  in  the  royal  favour,  he  might  prove  too  much  for  his 
enemies,  and  might  return  again  to  his  former  greatness. 
Whether  from  caution,  or  from  a  certain  grim  sympathy  with 
a  '  foeman  worthy  of  his  steel,'  is  not  clear,  but  Cork  begged 
that  he  might  not  be  called  as  a  witness  early  in  the  trial,  and 
sat  silent  while  Lord  Wilmot  and  Sir  Piers  Crosby  told  their 
tale  of  the  Deputy's  oppressions.  When,  however,  Strafford 
in  his  defence  repeated  all  his  former  charges  against  Lord 
Cork,  the  old  man  eagerly  seized  the  chance  he  had  so  long 
prayed  for  in  vain,  and  vindicated  his  character  to  the  King 
himself.  The  diary  relates  : — 

'Feb.  24th,  1641. — The  Earl  of  Strafford  brought  in  his 


OPENING   OF   THE   LONG   PARLIAMENT     367 

answer  in  writing,  consisting  of  eighteen  skins  of  parchment, 
into  the  House  of  Peers,  his  Majesty,  contrary  to  the  advice 
of  his  Lords,  being  personally  present.  Where  among  many 
untruths  [he]  did  charge  me  with  having  a  pardon  for  having 
caused  unlawful  oaths  to  be  taken  concerning  the  College  of 
Youghal.  In  which  great  untruths,  I  gave  his  Majesty  full 
satisfaction  on  the  2Qth  of  this  month.' 

Cork  was  outraged  by  the  suggestion  that  he  had  ever 
needed  or  craved  a  pardon,  and  further  that  he  had  so  dreaded 
his  crimes  being  brought  to  a  public  trial,  that  he  had  petitioned 
that  the  bill  against  him  should  be  taken  off  the  file  !  He 
therefore  now  demanded  that  public  trial  as  his  right,  entreat- 
ing that  search  might  be  made  in  the  Dublin  office,  to  prove 
whether  any  such  pardon  had  ever  passed  the  seals  there,  and 
whether  the  bill  against  him  did  not  still  stand  on  the  file.1 

On  the  i  st  of  March  he  writes  again  : — 

'  March  i . — I  petitioned  to  the  Lords  of  the  Upper 
House  [for  leave]  to  disprove  the  false  and  scandalous  asper- 
sions which  the  Earl  of  Strafford  in  his  answer  impertinently 
and  injuriously  had  endeavoured  to  blemish  me.  My  petition 
was  delivered  to  be  read  by  the  Earl  of  Bath,  who  pressed 
effectually  to  have  the  Lord  Primate,  Lord  Ranelagh,  and  my 
son  Dungarvan  all  in  court  to  be  examined,  to  dispose  his 
false  objections  and  my  justification,  but  in  regard  all  the 
Lords  did  declare  themselves  fully  satisfied,  and  that  my 
honour  was  vindicated  and  cleared,  the  examination  of  my 
witnesses  was  deferred  till  his  trial.' 

'  May  3. — This  day,  after  many  long  debates  and  several 
hearings,  the  oppressing  Earl  of  Strafford,  Lord  Lieutenant  of 
Ireland,  was  by  Parliament  attainted  of  high  treason,  where  I 
sat  present,  but  eleven  voices  of  all  the  Lords  declaring  non- 

1  Smith,  i.  60.     See  also  Lords  Journals. 


368     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

content,  and  the  rath  of  this  month  he  was  beheaded  on  the 
Tower  Hill  of  London,  as  he  well  deserved.' 

So  perished  Cork's  great  enemy. 

An  epitaph  which  was  much  circulated  at  the  time  was 
preserved  by  Lord  Cork  among  the  Lismore  Papers,  and  very 
possibly  sums  up  his  real  opinion  of  the  Earl  of  Stratford  : — l 

Here  lies  wise  and  valiant  dust 
Huddled  up  twixt  fit  and  just, 
Strafford,  who  was  hurried  hence 
Twixt  treason  and  convenience. 
He  past  his  time  here  in  a  mist, 
A  Papist  and  a  Calvinist. 
The  Prince's  nearest  joy  and  grief 
He  had,  yet  wanted  all  relief. 
The  prop  and  ruin  of  the  state, 
The  people's  violent  love  and  hate, 
One  in  extremes,  loved  and  abhorred. 
Riddles  lie  here,  or  in  a  word 
Here  lies  blood,  and  let  it  lie 
Speechless  still,  and  never  cry. 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  4.  187. 


GATHERING    CLOUDS 

*  When  as  mishaps  that  seldom  come  alone 
Thick  in  the  neck  of  one  another  fell. 
The  Scots  began  a  new  invasion  .   .  . 
The  Irish  set  the  English  Pale  upon. 
At  home  the  Commons  every  day  rebel.' 

DRAYTON. 

STRAFFORD  was  gone,  and  in  his  place  reigned  two  incapable 
Lords  Justices,  whose  chief  idea  of  governing  Ireland  was  to 
undo  everything  that  the  great  Deputy  had  done.  The  reforms 
that  he  had  begun  were  abruptly  abandoned,  the  clergy  he  had 
censured  were  picked  out  for  promotion,  the  army  he  had 
raised  was  to  be  promptly  disbanded,  with  the  result  that  the 
confusion  he  had  endeavoured  to  settle  became  worse  con- 
founded, and  the  discontent  which  he  had  aroused  was  fanned 
into  rebellion. 

Lord  Cork  can  scarcely  be  blamed  for  not  observing  any 
unusual  signs  of  danger.  Munster  was  still  happy  in  the 
peace  which  it  had  enjoyed  for  half  a  century,  and  the  delegates 
of  the  Irish  Parliament,  with  whom  he  had  been  sitting  in 
Committee  in  London,  were  now  returning  home  in  triumph 
with  the  King's  promise  that  the  long-promised  graces  should 
be  ratified  and  many  grievances  redressed.  Lord  Cork  gave 
the  Irish  Lords  and  gentlemen  a  parting  feast  at  the  hostelry 
of  his  cousin  Croon  in  Cheapside,  at  a  cost  of  £22,  2s. 

But  up  in  the  north  were  gathering  clouds.  The  Scots 

2  A 


370    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 

settlers  in  Ulster  were  watching  how  their  countrymen  in 
Scotland  were  able  to  dictate  terms  to  the  King  at  the  head  of 
his  army,  and  were  drawing  their  own  moral  from  what  they 
saw.  And  a  still  greater  danger  threatened  from  the  army 
which  had  been  raised  to  such  efficiency  by  Straffbrd.  Orders 
were  sent  from  England  that  it  was  to  be  immediately  dis- 
banded, no  one  in  authority  seeming  to  realise  that  there  might 
be  any  danger  in  depriving  spirited  and  well-trained  men  of 
their  occupation  and  their  means  of  earning  a  livelihood.  All 
that  troubled  the  Justices  was  the  lack  of  money  with  which 
to  pay  the  men  off. 

The  Treasury  being  empty,  their  first  idea  was  to  apply  to 
Lord  Cork  for  a  loan  ;  but  Cork  remembered  how  fiercely 
Straffbrd  had  resented  his  desire  to  recover  the  money  he  had 
lent  for  necessities  of  State,  and  declined  to  advance  the 
required  £2000  unless  his  repayment  were  secured  on  the 
subsidy  due  the  following  November  ;  to  which  the  Vice- 
Treasurer  Loftus  answered  *  in  a  harsh  displeasing  manner, 
that  he  had  no  security  to  give  but  his  own  bond,'  and 
naturally  did  not  get  the  loan. 

If  Lord  Cork  had  but  known  what  hung  on  the  peaceful 
disbanding  of  that  army,  he  might  thankfully  have  given  the 
needful  money  as  a  present,  even  to  the  half  of  his  fortune. 
But  he  did  not  know,  and  occupied  himself  with  Munster 
business  and  felt  no  fear. 

Many  of  Lord  Cork's  letters  from  home  related  to  church 
affairs  in  Munster.  The  plans  which  Straffbrd  had  made  for 
amending  the  condition  of  the  clergy  were  now  disregarded 
as  completely  as  his  designs  for  maintaining  the  army  ;  and  the 
Justices,  in  their  desire  to  reverse  his  policy  in  every  way, 
had  hastened  to  present  John  Adair,  whom  he  had  deprived  of 
the  Bishoprick  of  Killala,  to  the  see  of  Waterford.  Sir  John 


GATHERING   CLOUDS  371 

Leeke  described  the  new  prelate  to  Lord  Cork  with  much 
amusement :  '  The  new  Bishop  of  Waterford,  if  he  dissemble  not, 
doth  profess  much  love  and  respect  for  your  honour.  I  believe 
all  that  tribe  in  the  pulpit  !  He  hath  restored  Joshua  Boyle 
[Cork's  cousin  and  agent]  to  his  office  at  Waterford.  Joshua 
guides  him  wholly ' ;  so,  Sir  John  adds,  to  mark  his  approval 
of  the  Bishop's  docility,  he  had  sent  him  some  venison.1  Sir 
John's  contemptuous  allusion  to  the  bench  of  Bishops  as  '  all 
that  tribe,'  shows  how  Archbishop  Laud's  peremptory  fashions 
had  alienated  the  laity.  So  far  from  having  any  wish  for  the 
prosperity  of  the  Church,  Sir  John  looked  on  the  struggles  of 
the  Bishops  to  collect  their  dues  as  an  excellent  joke,  and  only 
took  a  sporting  interest  in  the  question  as  to  who  might  get 
the  rents  of  the  Episcopal  estates  in  Youghal.  He  wrote  in 
August  1641  to  tell  the  Earl  that  another  Bishop,  my  Lord 
of  Cork,  was  come  from  Dublin,  '  and  fights  your  tenant,  that 
denies  to  pay  his  rent  of  the  College  lands,  and  hath  procured 
an  order  from  the  Lords  spiritual  and  temporal  for  the  receiv- 
ing of  all  such  rents  as  belong  to  his  Bishoprick.  .  .  .  The 
world  speaks  aloud  that  he  hath  almost  wasted  himself  to  the 
bones  by  his  new  honours,  and  were  he  not  fully  supplied  by 
his  worthy  son-in-law  Michael  Boyle,  he  might  shut  up  doors.' 
Another  new  Bishop  had  arrived  in  Munster  while  Lord 
Cork  was  in  England,  who  was  a  man  of  a  very  different  stamp 
from  the  fawning  Bishop  of  Waterford  or  the  ambitious  Bishop 
of  Cork.  Yet  even  this  good  man,  Dr.  George  Synge,  could 
not  free  himself  from  the  prejudices  bequeathed  by  Laud  and 
Strafford,  and  arrived  in  Munster  believing  that  the  poverty 
of  his  See  of  Cloyne,  and  the  destitution  of  his  clergy,  were 
all  owing  to  the  greed  of  the  absentee  Earl  of  Cork.  '  If  God 
speed  me  not  some  other  way,'  he  complained  to  Lord  Cork, 

1  L.  P.,  11.  4.  215. 


372     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

'  the  means  of  the  Bishoprick  will  not  give  me  such  provision 
as  the  ravens  provided  for  Elijah/  Further,  the  good  Bishop 
was  greatly  distressed  at  the  condition  of  the  chancel  of 
Youghal  Church,  which,  he  wrote,  was  like  to  fall  down. 
In  this  matter  it  appears  that  Lord  Cork  was  not  to  blame, 
as  a  tenant  of  his,  John  Lambert,  held  lands  and  a  tenement 
in  College  Lane,  Youghal,  as  remuneration  for  keeping  the 
chancel  roof  covered  with  slates. 

The  Bishop's  dissatisfaction  with  Lord  Cork  must  have 
been  largely  due  to  misunderstandings  and  the  carelessness 
of  agents,  for  when  Lord  Cork  returned  to  Ireland  he  and 
the  Bishop  at  once  made  up  their  differences  ;  when  he  was 
sick,  the  Bishop  ministered  at  his  bedside  ;  and  finally,  in  his 
last  will,  Lord  Cork  bequeathed  to  Dr.  Synge  the  richest  pair 
of  gloves  that  he  possessed,  and,  what  must  have  pleased  the 
good  man  more,  ^98  to  'new  build'  the  chancel  of  Youghal 
Church.  At  the  time  when  he  received  these  complaints 
from  Dr.  Synge,  Lord  Cork  had  decided  to  be  an  absentee 
no  longer.  He  had  now  nothing  to  fear  from  a  return  to 
the  home  he  loved  so  well ;  the  Lords  Justices  were  both 
harmless,  and  one  of  them,  Sir  William  Parsons,  was  his 
kinsman ;  the  impending  Lord  Lieutenant,  Leicester,  was 
his  very  good  friend  ;  there  was  no  reason  that  his  days  of 
exile  should  be  lengthened. 

England  in  1641  was  not,  in  truth,  a  very  comfortable 
country  for  a  man  whose  reason  drew  him  towards  the 
Parliament  and  his  traditions  towards  the  King :  the  pro- 
blems of  Munster  were  far  simpler ;  there,  on  the  western 
side  of  St.  George's  Channel,  men  could  be  loyal  to  England 
without  discriminating  between  King  and  Parliament.  The 
Parliament  was  now  adjourned  for  a  few  weeks  :  the  King, 
vexed  by  its  continual  opposition,  had  looked  around  for 


GATHERING   CLOUDS  373 

friends,  and  had  suddenly  remembered  that  although  the 
Scots  were  still  in  arms  against  him  they  were,  after  all,  his 
own  countrymen,  and  he  determined  to  make  an  appeal  to 
their  personal  loyalty.  This  unexpected  change  of  view  was 
rather  startling  to  the  spectators,  and  Lord  Cork  actually 
laid  a  bet  with  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  that  the  King  was  not 
in  serious  earnest,  ( taking  one  piece  and  agreeing  to  pay 
him  five  for  it  if  the  King  hold  his  journey  into  Scotland,' 
but  he  soon  repented  of  his  doubts  and  gave  Sir  Thomas 
three  pieces  to  be  released  of  his  wager. 

Lord  Dungarvan  and  his  wife  left  England  before  the  Earl, 
who  had  given  Lady  Dungarvan  ^500  to  provide  *  utensils 
of  household  stuff  to  furnish  the  College  House,  where,  God 
bless  them,  they  are  to  keep  house  for  themselves.'  Broghill 
and  '  Lady  Peg '  were  to  be  housekeepers  at  Lismore,  and 
Lady  Kinalmeaky,  who  till  now  had  continued  her  service  at 
court,  was  to  join  her  husband  at  Bandon,  where  he  had  now 
been  for  some  time  past  exercising  his  functions  as  governor. 
Lord  Cork  had  seen  him  leave  England  with  miserable  anxiety, 
and  wrote  imploring  his  friends  and  relations  in  Munster  to 
do  all  in  their  power  '  to  detain  him  from  his  wild  and  de- 
bauched lascivious  expensive  courses  .  .  .  which  if  he  take 
not  up  in  time,  will  be  his  ruin  and  the  breaking  of  my  heart.' 
Lady  Barrymore  wrote  a  warm-hearted,  elder-sisterly  letter 
about  her  wild  young  brother,  from  Castle  Lyons,  August  the 
i8th:— 

'  I  assure  your  Lordship,  though  I  had  no  room  for  him, 
which  was  no  excuse,  but  really  so,  yet  I  have  a  great  care  to 
inquire  how  he  demeans  himself,  and  cannot  from  anybody 
hear  but  that  he  lives  very  civilly  and  retired,  and  did  so  at 
Bandon,  and  eat  at  the  ordinary  and  lay  at  your  Lordship's 
house,  and  there  went  none  with  him  thither  but  only  Parson 


374    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Shaw  and  his  one  servant.  I  am  absolutely  persuaded  that  if 
his  Lady  should  come  over,  and  he  were  once  settled  in  a  con- 
stant course  of  life,  your  Lordship  would  have  comfort  so 
great  of  him  as  would  countervail  the  troubles  he  hath  lately 
put  your  Lordship  to.  He  doth  as  yet  remain  at  the  Park.' 

Good  Sir  John  Leeke  also  sent  cheering  reports  of 
Kinalmeaky  : — 

*  Your  son  is,  I  bless  God,  in  as  good  order  as  I  can  wish. 
He  hath  never  been  from  me  unless  a  night  or  two  at  Castle 
Lyons.  I  protest  upon  my  reputation  he  is  a  sweet-natured 
and  witty  man,  most  excellent  company  and  of  rich  discourse, 
most  temperate  in  all  his  ways.  I  am  most  confident  it  hath 
been  ill  company  that  set  abroad  his  extravagant  and  expensive 
humours,  for  I  find  no  inclination  thereto  with  us,  but  will 
know  how  he  parts  with  his  pence,  will  reward  nobly,  yet  with 
discretion.  I  do  not  fear  or  doubt  him  in  anything  if  your 
Lordship  bring  over  his  wife  with  you,  which  if  you  shall  not 
effect,  I  may  question  whether  he  will  stay  many  months  here. 
He  hath  received  lately  three  letters  from  her.  I  honour  her 
family  with  all  my  heart,  and  so  do  I  all  that  the  blood  of 
Villiers  run  in  their  veins.  This  day  Lord  Barrymore  is  rode 
home,  and  to-morrow  my  Lord  Kinalmeaky  and  I  will  see  him, 
if  God  please,  by  nine  of  the  clock.  He  is  grown  a  very  lean 
man  and  not  in  good  health.' 

On  the  24th  of  September  Lord  Cork  bid  farewell  to 
London.  c  I,  with  my  son  Broghill  and  his  lady,  departed  to 
begin  our  journey  to  Stalbridge,  and  so  with  God's  favour  to 
Ireland,'  and  the  next  day  Lady  Kinalmeaky,  accompanied  by 
her  cousin  the  Duchess  of  Richmond,  daughter  of  the  great 
Buckingham,  her  mother  the  Countess  of  Denbigh,  Mrs. 
Howard,  and  other  maids  of  honour,  met  Lord  Cork  at 
Bagshot,  where  they  all  dined.  And  so  taking  leave  of  their 


GATHERING   CLOUDS  375 

friends  as  they  went,  the  party  journeyed  to  Stalbridge,  and 
then  by  the  newly  purchased  property  at  Marston  to  Mine- 
head,  where  they  took  ship  and  landed  at  Youghal,  October 
1 8th,  'and  I  went  to  morning  prayers  to  give  God  thanks  for 
our  speedy  and  safe  passage.  And  we  all  stayed  at  Youghal 
till  the  Tuesday  following,  and,  God  be  ever  praised,  came  all 
that  night  to  Lismore.' 

But  one  member  of  the  family  was  lacking.  Mrs.  Betty 
flatly  refused  to  accompany  her  sisters-in-law,  Lady  Kinalmeaky 
and  Lady  Broghill  to  Ireland  !  What  was  decided  for  her 
future  and  where  she  was  bestowed  we  are  never  told,  but 
in  the  following  winter  she  was  very  much  in  evidence  and 
nearly  driving  her  young  husband's  tutor  to  distraction. 
Mr.  Marcombes  wrote  to  Lord  Cork  from  Florence  in 
December  1641  : — 

'  I  am  very  much  displeased  that  Mrs.  Boyle  hath  been 
so  obstinate  as  to  refuse  to  go  along  with  your  Lordship  in 
Ireland,  having  so  good  company.  She  doth  herself  a  great 
wrong,  and  her  husband  also,  which  shall  be  very  much  afflicted 
when  he  comes  to  understand  this  :  but  I  will  conceal  it  as  long 
as  I  can,  and  if  I  cannot  prevent  it,  I  shall  give  him  at  least 
the  best  counsel  that  lieth  in  my  power  and  the  truest  that  he 
may  expect  from  a  faithful  friend  and  servant.' 

A  treacherous  calm  still  reigned  over  Munster.  When 
Lord  Cork  landed  at  Youghal  he  found  the  busy  seaport  as 
prosperous  as  when  he  left  it,  and  nothing  more  pressing  to 
do  than  to  go  to  morning  church  and  to  relieve  two  gentlemen 
of  the  Earl  of  Berkshire's,  who  had  been  in  the  Portugal  wars 
and  landed  at  Berehaven  in  great  necessity. 

A  few  days  after  they  had  once  more  settled  at  Lismore, 
Lord  Cork  and  Broghill  rode  over  to  dine  at  Castle  Lyons, 
where  we  may  imagine  the  greetings  of  *  my  pretty  grandchild 


376     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

Katie,'  and  of  the  sturdy  young  heir,  Lady  Barrymore's  *  wild 
boy.'  There  were  various  other  guests  invited  to  meet  them, 
Lord  Muskerry,  a  man  of  infinite  jest,  and  *  other  men  of 
quality  of  the  Irish  nation  with  whom  they  lived  in  an  easy 
and  familiar  way.' 

But  the  festival  turned  out  to  be  a  very  Belshazzar's  feast ; 
the  writing  had  been  long  enough  on  the  walls,  if  any  one  had 
cared  to  see  it,  and  now,  just  before  dinner,  we  are  told  by 
the  historian  of  the  Boyles,1  '  a  messenger  arrived  who  could 
not  be  persuaded  to  sit  down  until  he  had  spoke  with  the 
Earl  of  Cork  in  private,  whom  (with  horror  on  his  face)  he 
acquainted  that  the  Irish  were  in  open  rebellion,  and  had  com- 
mitted the  most  unheard-of  cruelties  on  the  unhappy  English 
who  fell  into  their  hands  ;  that  the  rebels  were  masters  of  all 
the  country  he  had  passed  through,  and  that  he  had  brought 
his  Lordship  his  intelligence  with  the  utmost  hazard  of  his 
life.  The  Earl,  without  showing  any  marks  of  surprise,  re- 
turned to  the  company  and  dined  with  them  ;  but  as  soon  as 
dinner  was  over  acquainted  them  with  the  news  he  had  received. 
My  Lord  Muskerry,  who  was  a  facetious  man  and  an  excellent 
companion,  employed  all  the  wit  he  was  master  of  to  turn  the 
whole  story  into  ridicule,  and  took  upon  him  to  assure  the 
company  that  their  intelligence  must  be  false.  They  were  how- 
ever so  much  alarmed  that  they  immediately  repaired  to  their 
respective  houses.' 

The  news  of  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion  in  Ireland  came 
upon  all  the  English  settlers  like  a  thunderbolt  out  of  a  clear 
sky.  The  stupid  confidence  with  which  the  Justices  had  ignored 
any  symptoms  of  coming  trouble  now  changed  to  helpless  terror 
when  they  discovered  that  not  only  was  Ulster  in  open  insurrec- 
tion, but  that  there  were  conspirators  within  the  very  walls  of 

1  Budgell,  Lives  of  the  Boyles,  37. 


GATHERING   CLOUDS  377 

Dublin.  Too  late  they  realised  that  when  they  hurriedly  dis- 
banded Strafford's  army,  they  had  turned  well-trained  men  loose 
on  the  country,  with  nothing  to  do  but  to  teach  their  dispos- 
sessed countrymen  how  easy  was  the  art  of  war,  and  to  proclaim 
that  the  moment  had  come  when  England's  extremity  would  be 
Ireland's  opportunity ;  that  the  King  was  so  deeply  offended 
with  the  English  Parliament  that  he  had  taken  the  Scots  insur- 
gents into  favour,  and  that  there  was  good  reason  to  believe 
that  he  would  approve  of  his  Irish  subjects  taking  up  arms. 

At  first,  however,  the  insurrection  was  confined  to  the 
North.  In  the  other  provinces  peace  still  reigned,  but  when 
the  Justices  recovered  from  their  first  panic  of  surprise,  they 
sent  messengers  to  warn  the  Lord  President  St.  Leger  and 
the  Earl  of  Cork  that  it  would  be  wise  to  prepare  for  the 
possible  spread  of  the  rebellion  into  the  province  of  Munster. 
This  piece  of  information  was  the  only  assistance  they 
vouchsafed  to  the  harassed  President,  although  they  knew 
St.  Leger  had  neither  money,  arms,  nor  provisions.  A  mere 
handful  of  men  was  left  him  with  which  to  keep  the  peace 
in  the  whole  south  of  Ireland,  and  it  was  not  for  some  time 
that  it  even  struck  the  Justices l  to  empower  him  to  raise  two 
fresh  troops  of  horse  and  a  regiment  of  foot. 

St.  Leger  wrote  a  very  open-hearted  and  soldierlike  letter 
to  beg  Lord  Cork  to  come  over  to  Doneraile  from  Lismore  to 
consult  over  public  affairs.  'And  because  I  understand  your 
own  horses  are  not  come  over,  I  shall  send  my  coach  to  attend 
your  Lordship  at  Fermoy,  whither  I  doubt  not  but  my  Lord 
Barrymore  will  conduct  you  with  his.'  He  goes  on  to  assure 
Lord  Cork  that  he  is  ready  to  lay  aside  all  his  resentment  on 
their  private  differences,  and  join  heart  and  hand  in  endeavour- 
ing for  the  public  peace,  for  most  of  the  gentry,  he  lamented, 

1  Carte,  i.  340.     Shane  MSS.,  1008,  98. 


378     LIFE   OF   THE  GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

seemed  absolutely  helpless,  *  and  stood  at  gaze '  waiting  for 
the  rebels  to  pillage  their  country  with  impunity.  The  Earl 
was  grown  too  infirm  to  accept  the  President's  invitation,  but 
St.  Leger  in  a  few  days'  time  wrote  again,  reiterating  his  very 
great  desire  for  Lord  Cork's  counsel  and  advice  in  the  critical 
state  of  affairs.  '  The  importance  of  a  conference  with  your 
Lordship  makes  me  propound  that  if  I  may  in  any  way  con- 
tribute to  the  accommodation  of  you  hitherward  by  easy  going 
horses  or  otherwise,  I  may  have  notice  of  it,  assuring  your 
Lordship  of  as  real  a  welcome  as  in  the  days  of  our  greatest 
friendship.  In  the  meantime  if  your  Lordship  have  a  desire 
that  any  of  your  sons  or  other  gentlemen  of  quality  may  be 
authorised  to  train  up  men  in  those  parts,  I  shall  desire  your 
Lordship  to  signify  it  unto  me,  and  I  shall  send  commissions.' 
The  appeals  from  all  sides  to  Lord  Cork's  experience,  and 
the  eloquent  letters  in  which  the  old  man  himself  prayed  to 
England  for  aid,  hardly  endorse  the  report  sent  by  Sir  John 
Leeke  to  the  Verneys,  that  '  the  old  Earl  of  Cork  is  full 
of  distraction,  not  like  the  man  he  was.'  Whether  from 
incapacity,  or  cowardice,  or  even  darker  motives,  every  step 
the  Justices  took  served  to  fan  the  flame  of  the  rebellion.  It 
is  true  that  their  own  position  was  a  difficult  one.  Lord 
Leicester  considered  himself  to  be  the  head  of  the  Irish 
government,  and  although  he  did  not  come  over  to  share  its 
perils,  sent  orders  and  distributed  praise  and  blame  entirely  as 
seemed  best  to  himself.  Behind  Lord  Leicester  stood  both 
King  and  Parliament,  already  on  the  verge  of  civil  war,  and 
the  Justices  doubted  which  were  the  more  dangerous  of  the 
two  to  disobey.  The  Justices  would  have  had  a  good  deal  of 
reason  on  their  side,  if  they  had  decided  '  to  do  better,  do 
nothing.'  But  unfortunately  they  were  too  much  frightened 
to  sit  still,  and  in  their  terror  of  all  who  held  the  Romanist 


GATHERING   CLOUDS  379 

faith  proceeded  to  alienate  those  old  Anglo-Irish  nobles  whom 
education  and  prudence  attached  to  the  English  government, 
though  they  were  one  in  blood  and  religion  with  the  dis- 
contented Irish. 

One  of  these  unlucky  gentlemen  was  Lord  Muskerry. 
When  he  left  the  dinner-table  at  Castle  Lyons  he  hurried 
home  to  do  his  best  to  keep  his  own  neighbourhood  from 
joining  in  the  insurrection,  and  offered  Lord  President 
St.  Leger  to  raise  a  thousand  men  at  his  own  expense  to  pro- 
tect the  peace  of  the  county.  But  his  loyal  desires  were  in 
vain.  The  threatening  attitude  of  the  Justices  gave  such 
weight  to  the  persuasions  of  Lady  Muskerry  and  the  entreaties 
of  his  countrymen,  that  at  last  he  yielded,  and  when  the  army 
of  insurrection  entered  Munster  he  joined  its  ranks.  He 
wrote  to  press  Lord  Barrymore  to  follow  his  example,  explain- 
ing that  he  was  not  a  rebel,  but  had  only  joined  the  Irish  in 
order  to  '  Maynetayne  the  Roman  Catholic  Religion,  his 
Majesty's  prerogative  and  royall  attributes  to  the  government, 
and  ancient  priviledges  of  the  poore  kingdom  of  Ireland, 
established  and  allowed  by  the  common  law  of  England.' 
He  ended  his  letter  with  a  pathetic  admission  of  his  power- 
lessness  to  control  his  own  men.  '  My  Lord,  as  well  as  I 
wish  your  Lordship  (and  although  I  have  used  all  my 
endeavours  to  keepe  my  kinsmen  and  adherents  from  going 
into  your  country)  if  you  come  not  presently  and  join  us,  you 
must  expect  present  ruine,  and  though  I  were  resolved  not  to 
stirre  nor  joine  with  the  country  as  I  have  done,  I  have  [seen] 
such  burning  and  killing  of  men,  women  and  children,  without 
regard  of  age  or  quality,  that  I  expect  not  safety  for  myself, 
having  observed  innocent  men  and  welldeservers  as  myself 
so  used.' 

Lord  Muskerry  perhaps  has  made  the  most  of  his  own 


380     LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

alarm  in  order  to  impress  Lord  Barrymore,  but  it  was  humili- 
ating that  an  Irish  gentleman  should  be  willing  to  confess  that 
he  had  joined  the  rebels,  not  from  any  patriotic  feeling,  but 
from  sheer  terror  at  their  atrocities.  The  insurgents  might 
now  boast  that  they  had  gained  over  Lord  Muskerry  with 
his  friends  Lord  Ikerin  and  Lord  Mountgarret,  and  had  per- 
suaded the  veteran  Garret  Barry  to  be  their  leader  ;  but  the 
head  of  the  Barry  clan  was  deaf  to  their  persuasions.  Vainly 
they  entreated  Lord  Barrymore  to  become  their  general.  He 
only  answered  with  short  contempt,  *  I  will  first  take  an  offer 
from  my  brother  Dungarvan  to  be  hangman-general  of 
Youghal.'  The  Irish,  stung  by  his  answer,  vowed  they  would 
take  their  revenge  on  his  home  of  Castle  Lyons,  but  he  merely 
replied  that  he  would  defend  his  castle  while  one  stone  of  it 
stood  upon  another,  and  they  were  to  trouble  him  no  more 
with  their  offers,  for  he  was  resolved  to  live  and  die  a  faithful 
subject  to  the  English  crown.1 

Soon  afterwards  Lord  Cork  sent  his  son-in-law  ^40  to 
help  in  strengthening  the  defences  of  his  castles,  which  became 
cities  of  refuge  for  the  poor  people  in  all  the  country  round. 

But  though  Lord  Barrymore  could  shelter  the  refugees 
from  the  first  onslaught  of  the  war,  he  found  with  agony  that 
he  was  unable  to  secure  the  safety  of  those  dearest  to  him,  and 
even  his  courage  almost  failed  when  he  looked  at  his  wife  and 
children.  As  ever,  he  turned  to  Lord  Cork  for  help,  writing 
from  Castle  Lyons,  March  18,  1642  : — 2 

'My  MUCH  HONOURED  LORD  AND  FATHER, — I  am  daily 
threatened  on  every  side  to  be  deprived  of  goods  and  life  ;  to 
make  it  manifest  to  your  Lordship  I  have  sent  you  here 
enclosed  a  copy  of  my  Lord  of  Muskerry's  letter.  As  for  my 

1  Lismore  Manuscripts,  quoted  in  Smith,  ii.  70.  2  L.  P.,  ii.  5,  24-5. 


GATHERING   CLOUDS  381 

own  particular,  I  absolutely  renounce  any  favour  they  can  do 
me,  and  more  especially  do  abhor  and  scorn  their  threatening. 
.  .  .  The  Butlers  are  marching  towards  these  parts  and  so  to 
Cork.  I  am  the  only  man  both  hated  and  aimed  at,  which  I 
take  the  highest  honour  that  could  befall  me.  .  .  . 

'  My  Lord,  I  was  absolutely  resolved  never  to  have 
troubled  your  Lordship  in  this  kind  that  I  am  become  a  suitor 
to  you,  neither  would  I  in  my  own  particular  ;  but  now  the 
iminent  danger  my  poor  wife  and  children  are  in,  which  above 
all  things  in  the  world  most  troubles  me  ;  when  only  I  of  all 
men  in  the  country  must  be  so  unfortunate  as  to  hazard  them 
I  love  so  dearly,  and  my  daily  and  many  distractions  for  them 
is  above  all  my  other  misfortunes ;  to  rid  me  out  of  which  I 
am  resolved  God  willing  to  secure  them  in  England,  till  God 
send  more  settled  times  ;  and  what  sheep  and  oxen  I  have, 
she  shall  have  to  make  money  of  there,  for  I  know  she  will  go 
as  near  as  she  may.1  My  only  request  to  your  Lordship  is 
that  you  would  furnish  me  with  fifty  pounds  to  bear  her 
charges  till  she  can  sell  what  she  shall  carry  with  her,  for  it 
would  break  my  heart  if  she  should  stay  here  to  come  to  any 
misfortune  for  want  of  means  to  carry  her  away.  So  trusting 
your  Lordship's  fatherly  care  of  her  will  prevail  with  you  more 
than  any  thoughts  of  my  former  ill  husbandry,  I  humbly 
desire  your  Lordship's  speedy  answer,  and  will  ever  be  my 
Lord,  your  obedient  son  and  servant,  D.  BARRYMORE.' 

If  Lady  Barry  more  was  persuaded  to  leave  Ireland  it  must 
have  been  merely  for  a  flying  visit  to  England,  for  she  and 
her  children  were  all  at  home  in  Castle  Lyons  the  following 
Christmas. 

It  was  well  for  Munster  that  Lord  Cork  had  returned 

1  i.e.  be  as  economical  as  she  may. 


382     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

home,  and  well  that  he  had  gathered  wealth  during  the  forty 
years  of  peace,  for  now  his  gold  had  to  supply  the  greater 
part  of  the  sinews  of  war  for  the  south  of  Ireland.  As  soon 
as  it  was  clear  that  the  war  would  spread  to  Munster,  Lord 
President  St.  Leger  had  urged  Lord  Cork  to  leave  Broghill  to 
hold  Lismore,  and  to  take  up  his  own  abode  at  Youghal,  so  that 
he  might  guard  the  only  port  which  could  safely  communicate 
with  England,  and  keep  an  open  door  for  the  entry  of  troops 
and  provisions  into  Munster.  For  St.  Leger  admitted  that 
he  did  not  see  that  it  would  be  possible  for  him  to  hold  the 
city  of  Cork  for  any  time  against  a  siege.  All  he  hoped  to 
do  was  to  strengthen  the  forts  there,  and  then  in  the  last 
extremity  himself  retire  to  Youghal. 

The  wisdom  of  the  Earl  of  Cork  in  making  Youghal 
the  capital  of  his  Munster  possessions  was  now  made  plain. 
This  seaport  of  his  choice  and  his  favourite  '  protestant 
Bandon '  were  like  iron  gauntlets  grasping  the  country  at  the 
east  and  west ;  without  them  it  would  have  crumbled  into 
ruin. 

As  soon  as  he  arrived  in  Youghal  the  Earl  attended  to  the 
defences  of  the  town,  which  appear  to  have  been  entirely 
neglected  by  the  Mayor  and  Corporation.  He  added  on  two 
large  flanking  towers  to  his  own « house  at  the  College,  raised 
five  circular  turrets  round  the  park,  and  cast  up  a  platform  of 
earth  on  which  he  placed  ordnance  to  command  the  town  and 
harbour,  the  remains  of  which  are  visible  to  the  present  day.1 

Badnedge,  now  the  captain  of  the  town  guard,  was  ordered 
to  collect  arms  :  five  new  lazard  muskets  with  snap  haunces 
and  matchlocks  were  bought  for  ^4,  153.  6d.,  and  eleven  new- 
fashioned  pieces  were  sent  over  by  Murray  the  steward  from 
Stalbridge.  Soldiers  were  drawn  in  from  Tallagh  and  Fermoy 

1  HaymaiTs  Youghal,  xiii. 


GATHERING   CLOUDS  383 

to  reinforce  the  town  guard,  and  armed  with  pikes,  halbards, 
and  brown  bills,  and  two  hundredweight  of  lead  was  stripped 
from  the  terraces  of  the  College  House,  and  melted  up  for  the 
gunners. 

The  Justices  and  the  Dublin  Council  had  the  grace  to  pass 
Lord  Cork  a  formal  vote  of  thanks  for  the  exertions  he 
was  making,  for  his  care  of  Youghal  and  payment  of  its 
garrison,  and  for  supplying  the  President  of  Munster  with 
^500.  In  a  second  letter  they  acknowledged  his  good 
services  in  relieving  Duncannon  Fort,  which  was  on  the  eve 
of  surrender  for  lack  of  provisions,  when  Lord  Cork  hired  a 
ship  at  his  own  cost,  victualled  it,  and  paid  the  crew  ^90  a 
month,  and  sent  it  to  the  assistance  of  the  starving  fortress.1 

We  may  perhaps  best  realise  the  terrors  and  distraction  of 
that  autumn  in  Ireland  by  comparing  it  with  Bengal  in  the 
days  of  the  Indian  Mutiny,  when  every  English  bungalow  had 
become  a  fortress,  and  death  was  the  least  of  the  terrors  that 
threatened  English  ladies  and  their  children.  Exaggerated  as 
many  of  the  tales  of  horror  may  have  been,  the  truths  told  by 
the  wretched  victims  who  struggled  into  Youghal  were  enough 
to  make  the  blood  of  the  defenders  boil.  Lord  Cork,  writing 
to  the  Earl  of  Warwick,  told  that  not  only  had  eight  of  his 
tenants  been  executed  by  the  Irish,  but  that  they  had  bound 
an  Englishwoman's  hands  behind  her  back  and  buried  her 
alive,  f  besides  other  cruelties  so  many  and  so  unchristianlike 
that  they  are  unexpressible.' 2 

To  the  haven  of  refuge  at  Youghal  the  terrified  English 
fled,  some  to  take  ship  as  soon  as  possible,  some  to  linger  for 
a  little  under  the  protection  of  the  old  Earl,  hoping  against 
hope  that  England  would  yet  put  forth  her  strength  and  once 
more  pacify  Ireland  with  the  strong  hand.  Not  an  exile 

1  Smith,  ii.  72.  2  Smith,  ii.  73. 


384    LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT  EARL  OF  CORK 

sailed  from  England  without  a  present  or  a  loan  from  Lord 
Cork  to  pay  for  the  journey,  and  in  spring  he  relates  that  he 
had  sent  a  ship  to  Waterford  to  fetch  *  all  the  English  that 
were  stripped  and  in  great  distress  in  that  city,  who  brought 
hither  my  cousin  Michael  Boyle,  Mrs.  Wheeler  (the  widow  of 
the  Bishop  of  Ossory),  and  332  English,  in  a  most  lamentable 
condition,  whom  I  in  person  saw  lodged  and  provided  for  in 
South  Abbey.' 

All  who  were  not  bound  by  pressing  duty  to  remain  in  the 
country  were  taking  flight.  Lord  Cork  offered  a  refuge  at 
Stalbridge  to  Lady  St.  Leger  and  her  daughter  Lady  Inchiquin, 
but  they  preferred  to  remain  at  Bristol  so  as  to  be  as  near 
Ireland  as  possible.  Young  Lady  Fenton  and  many  of  her 
friends  took  houses  at  Minehead  or  Taunton ;  and  Lord 
Cork's  daughters  Lady  Loftus  and  Lady  Kildare  fled  to 
London  in  February  1642.  Lord  Kildare  had  little  induce- 
ment to  support  the  English  cause,  for  the  Justices  seemed  to 
make  it  their  special  care  to  slight  and  mortify  him  ;  while 
the  Irish  spared  neither  persuasions  nor  entreaties  to  win  him 
to  be  their  leader.  But  the  Geraldine  was  true  to  his  English 
allies.  One  of  the  first  civilities  paid  for  many  years  to  the 
Earl  of  Cork  by  Lord  President  St.  Leger  was  forwarding 
copies  of  Lord  Kildare's  address  to  his  soldiers,  and  of  the 
Remonstrance  published  by  the  rebels.  '  Little  George 
Kildare's '  speech  seems  to  have  pleased  the  old  Earl  mightily, 
and  in  returning  thanks  for  both  papers  he  writes,  '  The  one 
is  full  of  wit,  the  other  of  wickedness.' 

The  love  of  the  Irish  for  the  Fitzgerald  name  was  not 
to  be  shaken,  even  by  Kildare's  refusal  to  join  their  ranks. 
Lady  Kildare  described  their  half-apologetic  affection  in  her 
letters  to  her  father ;  how  though  they  could  not  resolve  to  side 
with  the  head  of  the  Geraldines,  they  would  not  plunder  him. 


GATHERING   CLOUDS  385 

When  they  occupied  the  town  of  Maynooth,  c  they  used  my 
Lord  with  all  the  civility  in  the  world  and  would  say  if  his 
provision  were  all  gold  nobody  should  touch  it.'  Now  she 
wrote  from  'The  Strang,  London/  where  she  and  her  five 
children  had  taken  refuge,  leaving  Lord  Kildare  dangerously 
ill  in  Ireland.  '  My  sister  Loftus  and  I  do  make  it  our  humble 
suit  to  you  that  if  my  sister  Dungarvan  do  not  intend  to  live 
at  Stalbridge,  if  my  sister  Loftus  and  I  desire  to  live  there  we 
may  have  the  use  of  the  house  and  garden,  and  if  there  be  any 
land  belonging  to  the  house  that  we  may  have  it,  paying  for 
the  land  as  any  other  shall.' 

There  is  a  certain  amount  of  poetical  justice  in  the  end  of 
Lord  Kildare's  story.  He  did  not  die  of  the  illness  Lady 
Kildare  speaks  of,  but  lived  to  fight  long  and  gallantly  on 
the  English  side.  He  saw  the  Justices  who  had  insulted  him 
displaced,  to  vanish  in  obscurity,  while  he  became  governor  of 
Dublin,  the  right-hand  man  of  the  chivalrous  Ormond  and  a 
leader  honoured  by  all  parties  in  England  alike.  The  '  little 
mad  Lord '  may  have  played  the  fool  in  times  of  peace,  but 
war  called  up  the  spirit  of  the  old  Geraldines  in  him,  and  he 
was  worthy  of  his  ancestors. 

The  English  in  Munster  were  granted  a  short  breathing- 
space  before  the  full  violence  of  the  storm  burst  upon  them. 
The  advance  southward  of  the  main  body  of  the  enemy  was 
delayed  by  jealousies  among  its  leaders  ;  but  bands  of  cattle- 
stealers  began  to  raid  over  the  borders  of  Waterford  and 
Tipperary,  solitary  farms  were  burnt  and  unsuspecting  families 
massacred,  long  before  the  real  invasion  of  the  Blackwater 
Valley  and  County  Cork  began. 

Lord  Cork's  tenants  had  been  drilling  for  many  a  year  in 
readiness  for  such  an  emergency  as  now  threatened,  and  he 
was  able  at  once  to  put  five  hundred  men  in  the  field  under 

2  B 


386     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

the  command  of  Dungarvan.  This  body  of  horse  was  the 
only  defence  of  the  province  during  the  winter  months,  for 
the  Lord  President  had  to  employ  the  few  men  left  at  his 
disposition  in  guarding  Cork  and  the  other  fortified  towns, 
and  wrote  bitterly  of  the  action  of  the  Justices  in  having  called 
his  foot  soldiers  from  Munster,  while  cavalry  were  far  more 
needed  in  the  North,  and  would,  he  assured  Lord  Cork,  '  have 
brought  the  enemy  under  in  six  weeks.' 

'  Lady  Kinalmeaky,'  wrote  Sir  John  Leeke,  '  has  had 
enough  of  Ireland.'  Before  Lord  Cork  left  Lismore  she 
bade  him  farewell,  intending  to  return  to  her  duties  at  the 
English  court,  while  Lord  Kinalmeaky  went  to  West  Cork 
to  organise  the  defence  of  Bandon.  Lord  Cork  wrote,  *  My 
daughter-in-law,  the  good  and  virtuous  Lady  Kinalmeaky,  to 
my  great  grief,  left  me  and  Lismore,  and  with  her  attendants 
took  her  journey  to  Youghal.  I  gave  her  ^100  in  gold  to 
bear  her  charges  to  court.  I  sent  my  servant  Gerrard  Booth 
to  attend  her  thither  and  gave  him  other  £10.  Thomas 
Dauntsey,  to  whom  I  gave  direction  to  entertain  her  at  the 
College,  was  before  her  coming,  without  my  knowledge, 
knavishly  stolen  away  into  England.' 

But  the  wind  was  contrary,  and  when  Lord  Cork  arrived 
at  the  College  house  he  found  both  Lord  and  Lady  Kinalmeaky 
still  there,  and  had  their  company  at  Christmas.  On  the  loth 
of  January  Lady  Kinalmeaky  sailed,  when  her  husband,  writes 
Lord  Cork,  '  departed  for  Bandon  Bridge,  who  borrowed  of 
her  ^5  which  I  repaid  her.' 

She  did  her  best  for  her  Irish  friends  when  she  reached 
court;  Sir  John  Leeke  declared  'the  virtuous  Lady  Kinalmeaky 
is  my  anchor  to  trust  to.'  But  English  jealousies  ran  too  high 
for  unhappy  Ireland  to  gain  much  help  or  sympathy  from 
either  King  or  Parliament.  The  east  wind  that  had  kept  her 


GATHERING   CLOUDS  387 

at  Youghal  and  blew  with  almost  miraculous  steadiness  for  all 
December,  might  have  wafted  over  troops  to  restore  peace  in 
Ireland,  or  have  hastened  the  lingering  Lord  Lieutenant 
Leicester,  whose  presence,  said  Lord  Ormond,  *  would  have 
been  of  more  avail  than  half  an  army.'  But  *  the  Protestant 
east  wind '  as  it  might  well  have  been  called,  blew  in  vain. 
When  Dungarvan  visited  England  in  January  he  brought  thence 
little  but  his  own  good  sword.  The  King,  it  is  true,  had 
offered  to  contribute  arms  from  his  arsenal  in  the  Tower,  but 
the  Parliament  refused  to  give  ships  to  carry  them,  and  Lord 
Leicester,  doubting  whether  he  should  take  his  parting  orders 
from  the  King  or  the  Parliament,  solved  the  difficulty  by  sitting 
still  and  asking  for  no  orders  at  all. 

Lady  Dungarvan' s  own  estates  and  ancestral  home  were 
in  England,  but  she  was  no  more  disposed  to  show  the  white 
feather  than  her  sister-in-law  Lady  Broghill.  She  only  sailed 
for  England  when  her  husband  crossed  to  collect  arms  and 
money,  and  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  then  reported  that  as  her 
f  gallant  resolution  carried  her  through  all  difficulties,  so  soon 
as  there  is  a  considerable  army  in  Munster,  I  believe  it  will 
not  be  long  after,  but  her  Ladyship  will  visit  you  there. 
(February  1642.) 


CHAPTER    XXII 
THE  EARL'S  SONS 

« He  shall  not  be  afraid  when  he  speaks  with  his  enemy  in  the  gate.' 

THE  story  of  the  defence  of  Youghal  is  as  melancholy  and 
monotonous  as  the  story  of  a  siege  must  usually  be,  the 
romance  and  stir  of  the  war  was  with  the  Earl's  sons  :  Broghill 
mocking  his  besiegers  from  the  walls  of  Lismore  ;  Dungarvan 
ubiquitous,  one  day  holding  assizes  with  his  father,  the  next 
dashing  out  with  his  troop  of  horse  to  join  the  Lord  President 
in  some  struggle  against  desperate  odds,  then  flying  into  Eng- 
land to  represent  the  necessities  of  Munster  and  back  again 
at  Youghal  with  supplies  before  the  wind  changed.  Even 
Kinalmeaky  broke,  like  Prince  Hal, '  through  the  foul  and  ugly 
mists  of  vapours  that  did  seem  to  strangle  him,'  and  showed 
himself  a  gallant  gentleman  and  able  governor  of  Bandon. 

The  defenders  of  Munster  made  as  brave  a  show  as  they 
might,  but  their  hearts  were  heavy  with  forebodings.  On 
Christmas  Day  St.  Leger  wrote  that  never  was  nation  in  a 
worse  condition,  and  that  he  did  not  know  how  would  it  be 
possible  to  prevent  the  invading  Irish  from  crossing  the  Suir. 

Directly  afterwards  Lord  Cork  wrote  to  England  to  tell 
Lord  Goring  of  their  plight : — 

*  MY  NOBLE  LORD  AND  BROTHER, — I  wrote  unto  you 
several  letters  since  my  arrival,  and  the  last  about  the  seven- 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  389 

teenth    of    December,    which    I    sent    by    Lord    Ranelagh's 
secretary,  which  I  am  confident  he  hath  deliver'd  ;  but  neither 
by  my  son  Dungarvan,  or  any  other  since  my  coming  hither, 
have  I  heard  one  word  from  you,  which  makes  me  think  I  am 
forlorn  or  forgotten  by  you.     I  then  in  those  my  letters  made 
a  true  representation  unto  you  of  the  miserable  estate  where- 
unto  this  kingdom  was  reduced,  and  particularly  this  poor 
province    of   Munster,   which    is    encompassed   with   dangers 
round    about,    every    day    bringing    us  Job's    messengers   of 
killing,  preying,  burning,  and  spoiling  the  English  and  Pro- 
testants, and  none  other  touch'd  upon ;  and  of  the  loss  (or 
rather  yielding  up)  of  the  cities  and  walled  towns.     For  the 
Lord    Montgarret  and    the    Lord   of  Upper    Ossory,   have 
(without  a  blow  strucken  in  defence  of  the  city  of  Kilkenny) 
possessed  themselves  thereof,  and  ransacked  and  stripped  all 
the  English  Protestants  that  were  therein,  in  such  a  barbarous 
and  inhuman  manner,  as  is  not  to  be  believed.    And  the  noble 
Countess  of  Ormonde  hath  a  guard  of  150  men  put  upon 
her  castle,  so  as  no  man  can  come  in  or  out  unto  her  without 
search,  and   she  herself  in  the  nature  of  a  prisoner,  and  in  a 
miserable  condition,   her  lord   being  at  Dublin,  and  not  of 
force  to   come  to  her  rescue.     The  walled  towns  of  Cashell 
and  Feathers  have  likewise  yielded  up  themselves,  and  all  the 
English  Protestants  stripped  naked  by  the  Baron  of  Loghmay 
and  his  crew.     The  walled  town  of  Clonmell,  being  the  shire- 
town,  hath  open'd  her  gates,  and  let  in  the  rebels  to  pillage 
and  spoil  the  English  Protestants  ;    and  that  town  is  within 
12  miles  of  my  house,  where  there  are  at  least  300  rebels 
assembled  daily,  threatening  to  besiege  my  castle  of  Lismore  ; 
and  to  prevent  the  yielding  of  this  town  of  Yoghall  up  to  the 
rebels,  as  weak  and  infirm  as  I  am,  I  am  commanded  down 
hither,  to  see  whether  my  presence  or  power  can  preserve  it. 


390    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

And  I  have  brought  with  me  for  my  guard  100  foot  and  60 
horse,  which  I  have  here  with  me  in  defence  of  this  poor  weak 
town,  where  the  Irish  are  three  to  one  of  the  English  ;  and  if 
this  town  should  be  lost,  all  the  hope  and  retreat  of  the 
English  in  this  province  is  gone.  And,  God  willing,  I  will  be 
so  good  a  constable  to  the  King  my  master,  as  I  will  die  in 
the  defence  thereof ;  although  I  have  no  great  hope  to  defend 
it,  yet  we  will  bestir  ourselves  like  true  Englishmen.  The 
city  of  Waterford  hath  no  guard  upon  the  fort  or  city  but 
the  townsmen ;  and  we  every  day  look  to  hear  when  it  will  be 
given  up  to  Montgarret,  when  he  comes  before  it  ;  for  the 
priests  rule  all  there,  and  flock  into  this  kingdom,  especially 
into  this  province,  from  all  foreign  parts  ;  insomuch,  as  it  is 
credibly  certified  me,  that  there  is  a  whole  army  of  ecclesiastics 
gotten  into  Munster  ;  and  this  morning  I  have  apprehended 
two  Irish  friars,  that  came  in  a  vessel  from  Dunkirk,  disguised 
into  this  harbour.  The  Lord  of  Dunboyne,  and  the  two 
Lords  Bourkes,  and  in  effect  all  the  natives  of  the  county  of 
Limerick,  have  declared  themselves  in  open  action  ;  and  in 
brief,  all  that  have  suck'd  Irish  milk  are  infected  with  this 
general  treason  and  rebellion  ;  for  we  know  not  whom  to 
trust,  nor  who  is  sound  at  the  heart.  The  Earl  of  Barri- 
more  keepeth  his  country  in  good  subjection,  and  doth  very 
good  service  upon  the  rebels,  having  joined  his  forces  with  the 
Lord  President,  who  is  a  brave  martial  man,  and  acts  all  the 
parts  of  a  good  governor  :  but  alas  !  he  is  utterly  destitute  of 
men,  money,  and  munition.  And  therefore,  even  upon  the 
knees  of  my  soul,  I  beg  and  beseech  you  .to  supplicate  his 
Majesty  and  the  Lords  and  Commons  of  both  Houses  of 
Parliament,  that  this  fruitful  province  of  Munster  (wherein  are 
more  cities  and  walled  towns,  and  more  brave  harbours  and 
havens  than  all  the  rest  of  the  kingdom  hath)  and  the  English 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  391 

subjects  that  are  herein,  may  not  for  want  of  timely  supply  of 
men,  money  and  munition,  be  lost ;  nor  the  crown  of  England 
deprived  of  so  choice  a  flower  thereof  ;  but  that  you  will  inces- 
santly solicit  the  hastening  over  of  the  Lord  Lieutenant  with 
the  army  to  Dublin,  and  Sir  Charles  Vavasor  with  his  regiment 
to  Yoghall,  with  a  liberal  supply  of  arms  and  munition,  whereof 
the  province  is  in  a  manner  utterly  destitute.  And  herein, 
for  God's  sake,  let  not  the  least  delay  be  used,  for  if  there  be, 
all  succours  will  come  too  late.  The  Lord  President,  for  her 
security,  hath  sent  over  his  lady  ;  and  all  the  ladies  and  women 
of  any  account  have  for  the  most  part  transported  themselves 
into  England  :  and  now  my  dear  daughter  comes  to  her 
mother  in  the  arrear  ;  God  knows  with  what  grief  of  soul  I 
part  with  her.  But  I  prefer  the  safety  of  her  person  before 
the  comfort  I  have  in  her  company  ;  for  I  esteem  her  to  be 
one  of  the  best  women  in  the  world,  and  I  am  confident  that 
God  hath  heard  her  prayers,  which  hath  inclined  him  to  pre- 
serve us  hitherto.  My  daughter  Broghill  is  so  great  with 
child,  and  full  of  spirit,  as  she  resolves  to  bide  out  the  brunt 
of  these  wars ;  and  her  husband,  who  is  full  of  hot  blood  and 
courage,  doth  mutiny  upon  me  for  walling  him  up  at  Lismore. 
But  that  he  must  do,  or  else  I  could  not  come  hither.  My 
son  Kynalmeaky  had  been  at  his  own  town  of  Bandonbridge 
before  this  time,  but  his  lady  having  been  stay'd  here  these 
three  weeks  by  contrary  winds,  and  he  joined  in  commission 
with  the  mayor  for  the  government  of  this  town,  hath  been 
very  active  in  making  up  the  broken  walls  and  decays  of  the 
same.  But  so  soon  as  her  foot  is  on  shipboard,  his  foot  shall 
be  in  the  stirrup  to  go  to  Bandonbridge,  of  which  town  I  hope 
he  will  give  a  good  account ;  for  he  hath  a  fair  rising  out  in 
the  town  and  the  borders  thereof,  and  I  have  put  up  port- 
cullisses  for  the  strengthening  of  the  gates,  and  planted  six 


392     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

pieces  of  ordnance  for  the  better  defence  thereof ;  for,  I  thank 
God,  I  have  so  planted  that  town,  as  there  is  neither  Irishman 
nor  papist  within  the  walls,  and  so  can  no  town  or  corporation 
in  Ireland  truly  say.  My  son  Dungarvan  hath  raised  a  brave 
troop  of  English  protestants,  and  is  marching  towards  the 
Lord  President  to  join  their  forces  together.  And  thus  have 
I  given  you  an  account  how  my  three  sons  that  are  in  Ireland 
are  disposed  of;  and  that  I  have  deprived  myself  of  their 
companies  and  comforts  ;  and  with  Serjeant  Major  Apple- 
yard,  who  is  a  great  assistance  unto  me,  am  here  to  defend 
this  poor  and  weak  town.  And  therefore,  I  beseech  you, 
bestir  yourself,  and  rest  not,  until  Sir  Charles  Vavasor  with 
his  regiment  be  shipped  away  for  Yoghall,  the  sight  of  whom 
would  make  me  young  again.  Oh,  that  I  had  George 
Goring  here  with  1000  foot  and  100  horse  well  armed,  to 
see  what  service  I  could  put  upon  him,  that  you  might  hear 
of  our  success.  I  have  scarce  time  to  present  my  service  to 
you  and  your  lady,  and  to  George  and  my  poor  Letitia,  whom 
God  bless.  Yoghall,  this  Twelfth  day  about  midnight  after  a 
heavy  and  sorrowful  Christmas,  1641. — Your  Lordship's  most 
affectionate  brother,  and  humble  servant, 

R.    CORKE.1 

Strange  to  say  the  townsmen  of  Youghal  had  paid  so  little 
attention  to  the  fortifications  which  should  have  defended  their 
homes,  that  on  the  I2th  of  January,  in  a  second  letter  to 
Lord  Goring,  Cork  tells  of  new  misfortunes,  l  A  great  part  of 
the  walls  of  Youghall  being  fallen  down  within  these  two 
nights  which  we  are  not  able  to  repair.  .  .  .  God  bless  us,  for 
we  are  encompassed  with  an  innumerable  company  of  enemies, 
and  have  neither  men,  money,  nor  munition.  We  are  now  at 

1  Printed  in  State  Letters,  Earl  of  Orrery,  i.  i. 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  393 

the  last  gasp  ;  and  therefore,  if  the  state  of  England  do  not 
speedily  supply  us,  we  are  all  buried  alive.' 

He  encloses  a  letter  newly  received  from  Broghill,  for  he 
was  proud  to  show  the  spirit  of  his  son.  'Just  now,'  writes 
the  young  Governor  of  Lismore,  '  is  one  of  my  brother 
Dungarvan's  troopers  come  unto  me,  and  acquainted  me,  that 
the  party  of  horse  which  he  sent  to  meet  me  went  out  this 
morning  to  take  a  prey  ;  but  an  ambuscade  of  the  enemies  fell 
upon  them,  and  have  killed  poor  Jack  Travers,  with  two  more, 
whose  names  I  know  not.  His  body  was  stripp'd,  and  I  have 
sent  a  trumpeter  for  it ;  his  horse  is  come  home  shot  in  three 
places.  This  design  was  out  of  my  knowledge,  and  contrary 
to  my  direction,  and  marching  without  scouts  in  an  enemy's 
country  (for  so  I  may  call  that,  and  where  they  have  so  good 
intelligence  of  our  proceedings  as  we  ourselves  have),  could 
not  expect  a  better  fortune.  I  have  sent  out  my  quarter- 
master to  know  the  posture  the  enemy  is  in.  They  are,  as  I 
am  informed  by  those  that  were  in  the  action,  5000  well 
armed,  and  that  they  intend  to  take  Lismore.  When  I 
have  received  certain  intelligence,  if  I  am  a  third  part  of  their 
number,  I  will  meet  them  to-morrow  morning,  and  give  them 
one  blow  before  they  besiege  us.  If  their  numbers  are  such 
that  it  will  be  more  folly  than  valour,  I  will  make  good  this 
place  which  I  am  in.  I  tried  one  of  the  ordnances  made 
at  the  forge,  and  it  held  with  two  pound  charge,  so  that  I  will 
plant  it  upon  the  terras  over  the  river.  My  Lord,  fear 
nothing  for  Lismore  ;  for  if  it  be  lost,  it  shall  be  with  the 
life  of  him,  that  begs  your  Lordship's  blessing,  and  stiles 
himself,  my  Lord,  your  Lordship's  most  humble,  most  obliged, 
and  most  dutiful  son  and  servant, 

Lis.,  January  n  (1641-42). 

1  State  Letters,  Orrery,  i.  5. 


394    LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Desperate  as  was  their  position,  in  one  thing  the  English 
of  Southern  Ireland  were  happier  than  their  brethren  in 
England.  No  divided  allegiance  tore  their  hearts  ;  even  the 
contradictory  orders  of  King  and  Commons  that  bewildered 
the  Lords  Justices  did  not  reach  so  far  as  Munster  to  weaken 
the  hands  of  the  President  and  the  old  Earl.  The  war  there 
was  waged  between  men  of  opposing  races  and  different  creeds  ; 
Englishmen  stood  all  together,  and  the  differences  between 
King  and  Parliament  across  seas  were  ignored. 

Lord  Cork  never  discussed  the  royal  intentions  nor 
criticised  the  doings  of  the  King.  Only  once  in  all  his  diary 
does  he  ever  allude  to  the  civil  war  that  was  being  waged  in 
England.  Then  he  writes  sadly  and  solemnly  on  the  23rd  of 
October  1642  : — 

'  The  lamentable  (and  ever  to  be  by  all  true  English  hearts 
lamentable)  battle  at  Edge  Hill  near  Banbury  was  fought 
between  the  English.  His  sacred  Majesty  being  in  person  at 
the  head  of  his  army  and  the  Earl  of  Essex  general  of  the 
army  of  the  Parliament  army.  \_sic.~\  God  grant  it  may  be 
the  last  battle  that  ever  may  be  fought  between  our  own 
nation.' 

The  slip  in  the  entry  shows  how  deeply  the  old  man  was 
shaken,  but  the  divinity  that  hedged  the  King  could  not  be 
destroyed  in  the  Earl  of  Cork's  eyes  by  any  royal  faults 
or  follies. 

While  the  Earl  lived,  there  was  but  one  occasion  when 
there  was  danger  of  Munster  being  involved  in  the  English 
division  of  parties,  and  according  to  the  historian  of  the 
Boyles,1  it  was  Broghill's  acuteness  that  saved  the  President 
of  Munster  from  falling  into  the  trap  the  Irish  had  prepared 
for  him. 

1  Morrice,  Life  of  Earl  of  Orrery,  13,  14. 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  395 

This  happened  in  February  1642,  when  Broghill  had  joined 
Dungarvan  and  the  Lord  President  in  guarding  the  Red 
Shard,  a  wild  pass  leading  from  the  north  over  into  Waterford. 
There  St.  Leger  waited  in  the  snow,  uncertain  whether  to  set 
Broghill  to  making  entrenchments,  or  to  move  further  on  in 
search  of  the  enemy. 

Broghill  described  the  next  proceeding  in  a  letter  to  his 
father : — 

4  On  Tuesday  last,  the  enemy  advanced  to  our  out-guards 
with  one  hundred  and  fifty  horse,  but  fifteen  of  ours  made 
them  retreat ;  for  an  old  trooper  waved  his  hat  towards  the 
place  where  the  enemy  thought  we  lay,  which  made  them  all 
without  a  blow  return  faster  than  they  came.  The  same  day 
they  desired  to  have  a  safe  conduct,  and  they  would  treat 
with  us,  which  we  granted ;  and  yesterday  there  came  in 
Patrick  Walsh,  a  lawyer,  requiring  three  things :  the  first, 
freedom  of  conscience  ;  the  second,  the  King's  prerogative  to 
be  maintained ;  the  third,  that  the  natives  of  the  country  might 
have  the  same  privileges  that  the  English  enjoy.  To  which  the 
Lord  President  answered  like  a  cunning  fox  (not  having  force 
to  do  it  with  the  sword)  that  for  freedom  of  religion  they  have 
always  had  it,  and  as  that  is  a  thing  he  condemns  in  them  for 
not  allowing  the  English,  therefore  he  is  not  likely  to  practise 
it  himself.  That  he  will  stand  up  for  the  King's  prerogative 
as  much  as  any  man ;  for  his  office  and  all  that  he  has  is 
immediately  from  the  King,  and  for  this  last  he  will  be  as 
earnest  for  the  privileges  of  the  natives  as  any  man,  being  one 
himself.  This  is  all  that  was  done  while  I  was  there.  What 
the  event  will  be  I  know  not ;  but  I  conceive  they  do  this  to 
delay  time  till  the  western  forces  come  up  (who  have  done 
much  mischief  and  have  taken  Castlemaine),  or  else  the  Scotch 
have  given  them  in  the  north  some  great  overthrow  and  are 


396     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

marching  hither.     My  Lord  President  confesses  things  that  I 
dare  not  trust  to  this  letter.' 

The  President's  secret  information  was  indeed  sufficiently 
alarming  to  explain  Broghill's  reluctance  to  repeat  it  hastily. 
When  Walsh  appeared  he  presented  his  commission  on  a 
parchment,  drawn  up  under  the  great  seal,  authorising  the 
enlistment  of  four  thousand  Irish  for  the  King's  service.  It 
would  have  been  small  wonder  if  St.  Leger  were  for  the 
moment  taken  aback  by  the  Irish  pretensions.  He  had  not  the 
slightest  intention  of  declaring  war  upon  King  Charles,  and 
he  was  aware  that  many  of  the  gentlemen  he  now  saw  in  arms 
had  held  the  King's  commission  in  Straffbrd's  army,  or  were 
Government  officials  in  their  different  counties.  If  it  were 
true  that  the  King  in  his  present  need  of  soldiers  proposed  to 
re-embody  the  army  he  had  been  so  loth  to  part  with,  it  was 
not  likely  that  he  would  communicate  with  the  Lords  Justices 
who  had  just  disbanded  it,  and  whose  loyalty  was  decidedly 
doubtful ;  nothing  could  be  more  natural  than  that  he  should 
signify  his  wishes  to  the  former  commanders  of  the  army  or 
the  local  authorities  throughout  the  country.  It  was  well 
known  that  he  had  intended  to  use  these  very  Irish  regiments 
in  his  Scotch  war,  and  it  was  suspected  that,  but  for  a  lucky 
accident,  they  would  have  been  brought  over  to  London,  to 
coerce  the  Parliament  during  Strafford's  trial.  The  Irish 
therefore  had  some  colour  for  their  boast  that  they  alone  were 
his  Majesty's  troops  and  that  the  Munster  forces  who  claimed 
to  serve  the  King  and  Parliament  were  but  '  Parliament  dogs,' 
and  not  the  King's  soldiers  at  all.  Their  veteran  officer, 
Purcell,  afterwards  assured  one  of  Lord  Cork's  nieces  that 
he  was  twice  excommunicated  for  not  taking  up  arms,  and 
never  would  have  done  so  but  to  uphold  the  King's  authority.1 

1  Hickson,  Ireland  in  the  Seventeenth  Century,  ii.  96. 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  397 

The  report  of  this  incident  relates  that  St.  Leger  was  so 
much  shaken  by  the  sight  of  the  commission  that  he  publicly 
declared  he  would  rather  die  than  be  a  rebel,  and  were  he  but 
sure  of  its  being  genuine,  he  would  disband  his  forces. 

The  historian  of  the  Boyles l  declares  that  Broghill  then 
broke  in,  vehemently  asserting  that  the  commission  was  a 
forgery,  and  by  his  persuasions  induced  St.  Leger  to  repudiate 
it.  Doubtless  Broghill  was  shrewd  enough  to  notice  that  the 
important  parchment  bore  the  great  seal,  not  of  England,  but 
of  Scotland,  and  that  one  sentence  in  it  empowered  the  Irish 
army  cto  arrest  and  seize  the  goods,  estates,  and  persons  of 
all  English  protestants  in  the  kingdom,'  a  command  which  it 
was  ludicrous  to  imagine  given  by  the  Royal  Head  of  the 
English  protestant  Church.  But  it  is  very  possible  that  St. 
Leger, '  the  sly  old  fox,'  was  not  unwilling  to  appear  to  waver  ; 
for  his  object  just  then  was  to  gain  time  and  avoid  engaging  the 
overwhelming  army  of  the  Irish  before  reinforcements  arrived. 
He  therefore  did  not  discuss  the  genuineness  of  the  Irish 
commission,  but  withdrew  with  Lord  Dungarvan  to  Cork, 
there  to  await  a  promised  regiment  of  foot  under  Sir  Charles 
Vavasour,  and  horses  and  arms  which  Lord  Inchiquin  and 
Mr.  Jephson  were  busy  collecting. 

The  Irish,  disappointed  at  finding  their  vaunted  commis- 
sion had  so  little  effect,  said  little  more  about  their  devotion 
to  King  Charles.  The  most  part  of  them  soon  threw  off  any 
pretence  of  favouring  one  English  party  more  than  another, 
their  greatest  general,  O'Neil,  declaring  that  he  hated  and 
detested  all  English  alike.  When  the  war  was  over  and  there 
was  nothing  to  be  gained  by  pretences,  the  Irish  themselves 
confessed  that  the  commission  had  been  a  forgery  and  the 
royal  seal  upon  it  had  been  cut  from  a  land  grant  found  in  a 

1  Morrice,  Life  of  the  Earl  of  Orrery,  12. 


398     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

house  they  had  pillaged.  There  is,  however,  reason  to  believe 
that  the  forgery  was  drawn  up  on  the  lines  of  a  genuine 
document,  for  Lord  Antrim  had  indeed  been  authorised  by 
the  King  to  negotiate  with  the  Irish  army  ;  but,  as  he  said, 
'  the  fools  liked  the  business  too  well,'  they  threw  over  his 
authority,  drew  up  their  own  commission,  and  waged  their 
own  war  in  their  own  fashion.1 

Broghill's  next  letter  tells  his  father  that  he  had  drawn  all 
the  troops  from  Lismore  town  into  the  Castle  and  turned  out 
all  the  papists,  and  that  the  enemy  had  taken  Ballyancor  and 
shot  Mr.  Croker,  the  owner,  in  cold  blood,  and  made  the  rest 
of  the  garrison  hang  each  other.  Next  day  they  advanced  to 
Lismore  and  summoned  the  castle,  saying  that  the  Lord 
President  had  found  them  too  strong  and  had  retreated  before 
them,  and  they  begged  Lord  Broghill  to  follow  so  good  an 
example  and  avoid  bloodshed  by  rendering  up  the  castle,  when 
the  garrison  should  have  liberty  to  retire  where  they  pleased, 
with  fair  and  honourable  quarter.  Broghill  answered  no  man 
should  be  an  example  to  him  to  do  an  action  that  he  neither 
thought  honest  or  noble  ;  and  that  for  quarter,  he  never 
knew  what  the  word  meant,  and  vowed  to  God  to  live  or 
bury  himself  in  the  ruins  of  that  place.  Mr.  Bayline,  the 
messenger,  then  told  him  the  assault  would  be  given  in  a 
quarter  of  an  hour,  and  after  drinking  three  or  four  glasses  of 
aqua  vitae  went  away.  Broghill  hung  out  a  flag  of  defiance, 
but  although  there  were  many  false  alarms  and  the  garrison 
were  under  arms  all  night,  no  attack  was  made.  Broghill 
concludes  by  telling  his  father  that  he  still  expects  every  hour 
to  be  attacked,  '  but  they  shall  find  by  dear-bought  experience 
how  difficult  a  place  this  is  to  be  taken,  and  I  will  never  yield 
it  while  I  have  one  drop  of  blood.' 2 

1  See  Dunlop,  Hist.  Rev.,  ii.  jz7 ;  Gardiner,  Cromwell's  Place  in  History,  20. 

2  Smith,  ii.  70. 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  399 

Urban  Vigors,  the  chaplain,  expands  this  story,  telling  that 
'  his  Lordship  placed  guards  on  every  place  of  the  castle  court 
and  garden,  and  watched  himself  three  nights  together, 
encouraging  his  soldiers  and  seeing  they  might  not  want 
things  fitting,  nor  any  of  the  poor  people  which  came  to  the 
castle  for  their  lives.  My  honourable  lady  [Lady  Broghill] 
was  newly  brought  to  bed  of  a  child,  otherwise  I  daresay  she 
would  likewise  have  watched  in  person,  for  she  is  a  lady  that 
truly  fears  God,  abhors  and  detests  rebels,  and  I  know  but 
few  men  in  the  land  will  shoot  off"  a  fowling  piece  better  or 
nearer  the  mark  than  her  Ladyship/  Then  as  the  Irish  still 
hesitated  to  attack,  '  my  Lord,  being  young  and  active, 
thought  of  a  way  to  fight  this  domineering  yet  coward  and 
fearful  army,'  and  caused  all  his  ordnance,  muskets,  and 
pistols  to  be  shot  off  at  once,  sending  the  Irish  word,  by  a 
man  he  could  trust,  that  reinforcements  had  arrived,  for  he 
knew  the  Irish  had  intercepted  some  of  the  Earl  of  Cork's 
letters  announcing  the  landing  of  Colonel  Larester  at  Youghal. 
This  ruse  succeeded  so  admirably  that  the  Irish  took  fright 
and  fled  in  all  directions.  The  garrison  sent  out  fifty  horse 
after  them  and  took  many  prisoners,  and  '  recovered  so  many 
stolen  sheep  and  cattle,  that  the  next  day  you  might  have 
bought  in  Lismore  a  good  cow  for  eighteen  pence.'  It  is  sad 
to  tell  that  the  siege  baby  did  not  live  to  reward  brave  Lady 
Broghill  for  all  she  had  undergone. 

Lord  President  St.  Leger  was  now  almost  worn  out  by 
his  heroic  exertions.  He  had  stood  a  close  siege  of  five  weeks 
in  Cork,  when,  though  his  troops  were  mutinous  for  want  of 
pay,  the  Dublin  Parliament  could  suggest  no  resource  but  that 
they  should  sally  out  and  support  themselves  by  plunder  ! l 
In  this  strait  Lord  Barrymore  persuaded  Lord  Cork  to  send 
£500  to  the  relief  of  the  President,  and  St.  Leger  further 

1  See  Carte's  Ormond. 


400    LIFE   OF  THE  GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

succeeded  in  getting  £1000  from  miserly  old  Sir  Robert  Tynt, 
on  a  bond  signed  by  the  Earl  of  Cork,  Lord  Dungarvan,  Sir 
Hardress  Waller,  and  Sir  Edward  Denny,  which  so  encouraged 
the  defenders  of  Cork  that  they  made  a  gallant  sally  on  the 
1 3th  of  April,  routed  their  besiegers  and  cut  themselves  a  way 
out  to  carry  on  the  campaign  once  more  in  the  field.  It 
must  be  confessed  that  for  once  in  his  life  the  old  Earl  played 
a  decidedly  dishonest  trick  in  the  matter  of  Sir  Robert  Tynt's 
bond.  It  may  be  remembered  that  Sir  Robert's  son  had 
married  Lord  Cork's  favourite  niece,  Kate  Boyle,  and  neither 
the  elder  nor  the  younger  Tynt  treated  Kate  with  the  kindness 
which  her  uncle  thought  her  due.  As  the  only  thing  in  the 
world  that  Sir  Robert  loved  was  his  money,  Lord  Cork  seized 
the  opportunity  of  revenge,  and  when  he  signed  the  bond  he 
took  care  not  to  deliver  it  as  his  act  and  deed,  making  his 
signature  valueless,  and  far  from  being  ashamed  of  this  piece 
of  sharp  practice  he  wrote  it  down  with  much  pride  in  his 
diary.  A  second  assault  made  by  St.  Leger  on  Sir  Robert's 
strong  box  so  overwhelmed  him,  that  Lord  Cork  wrote,  '  it  is 
thought  'twill  kill  him,'  adding  grimly,  '  which  will  occasion 
many  a  dry  eye  ;  for  the  commonwealth  may  well  spare  him, 
and  his  children  long  for  his  death.' 

Lord  Cork  had  scant  sympathy  to  spare  for  the  hard  old 
man,  for  he  himself  was  spending  money  with  both  hands. 
St.  Leger,  in  spite  of  his  renewed  friendship  with  Lord  Cork, 
could  not  forbear  a  little  sneer  when  he  heard  tell  of  his 
Lordship's  great  exertions.  *  I  cannot  but  acknowledge,'  he 
wrote,  *  your  Lordship's  expenses  and  losses  have  been  great, 
but  I  doubt  not  but  your  Lordship's  providence,  out  of  a 
plentiful  estate,  hath  in  this  summer  made  provision  for  the 
stormy  winter.'  But  Lord  Cork  in  writing  to  Lord  Warwick 
told  another  tale. 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  401 

'  Before  the  rebellion,'  he  says,  '  my  revenue,  besides  my 
house,  demesnes,  parks,  and  other  royalties,  did  yield  me  £50 
a  day  rent.  I  do  vow  unto  your  Lordship  that  I  have  not 
now  5od.  a  week  coming  unto  me,  so  I  fear  I  must  come  a 
begging  to  you  to  allow  me  to  be  one  of  your  beadsmen. 
But  God's  will  be  done,  to  whom  I  am  thankful  for  granting 
me  patience  to  undergo  these  final  afflictions  and  losses.  My 
Lord,  when  my  son  Dungarvan  obtained  a  troop  of  horse,  it 
was  more  for  ornament  than  benefit  ;  but  now  our  lands  being 
wasted,  it  must  be  for  his  subsistence.  My  younger  sons 
Kinalmeaky  and  Broghill  are  in  a  worse  condition,  for  although 
each  of  them  have  one  hundred  horse,  which  I  have  hitherto 
paid,  I  am  forced  now  to  make  it  my  humble  suit  to  your 
Lordship  to  move  the  Lord  Lieutenant  that  they  may  be 
taken  into  his  Majesty's  pay  ;  for  the  horses  and  men  are 
very  good,  well-seasoned,  and  acquainted  with  the  service.' l 

Parliament  after  a  while  sent  over  £550,  and  Cork's 
friends  in  England  were  not  altogether  forgetful  of  the  needs 
of  Munster.  In  March  1642,  Lord  Warwick  wrote  to  his 
'  noble  brother '  telling  that  men  and  money  would  arrive  by 
the  first  favourable  wind,  f  God  Almighty  keep  you  and  all  in 
the  kingdom,  and  send  the  winds  to  turn,  that  they  may  come 
seasonably  to  you.'  His  ship,  The  Pennington,  brought  over 
eight  barrels  of  powder  and  thirty  casks  of  minion  shot,  two 
of  which  were  at  once  sent  up  to  Lismore. 

Fortunately  the  natural  wealth  of  Munster  was  so  great, 
that  the  commerce  Lord  Cork  had  fostered  with  such  care 
was  now  his  standby  in  the  time  of  need.  His  cousin  Croon 
sent  a  ship  from  Malaga  laden  with  wine  and  fruit,  asking 
Lord  Cork  to  take  out  what  could  be  disposed  of,  and  refill 
the  ship  with  hides,  tallow,  pipestaves  or  pilchards.  Croon 

1  Lismore  MSS.  in  Smith's  Cork,  ii.  74. 
2  C 


402     LIFE  OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

explains  that  he  has  heard  there  is  a  great  quantity  of  tallow 
and  hides  to  be  had,  but  that  he  really  is  not  sending  his  ship 
to  take  advantage  of  a  cheap  market,  but  with  a  wish  to  serve 
Lord  Cork  and  the  distressed  among  the  poor  Protestants. 
Another  ship  arrived  from  France  with  wine  and  corn  to  take 
a  return  cargo  of  hides,  and  Sir  W.  Beecher  sent  a  message 
from  England  through  Sir  John  Leeke  with  his  humble 
services  to  Lord  Cork,  and  if  he  would  dispatch  a  bark  with 
Irish  merchandise,  Sir  William  would  return  it  full  of  powder 
and  ammunition,  '  factory  free.' 

Still  Lord  Cork  was  hard  put  to  it,  to  furnish  both  the 
funds  for  the  war  and  also  to  care  for  his  own  family.  He 
wrote  to  Mr.  Marcombes  that  the  uncertainty  of  how  his 
children  are  hereafter  to  subsist  '  is  most  grievous  unto  me. 
Necessity  compelleth  me  to  make  you  and  them  know  the 
dangerous  and  poor  estate  whereunto  by  God's  providence  I 
am  reduced.  God's  will  be  done.  I  hope  He  will  give  me 
patience  to  go  through  with  it.'  He  continues,  that  he  had 
scraped  together  £250  by  selling  plate,  and  had  made  it  over 
to  Mr.  Perkins  to  be  forwarded,  and  begged  Marcombes  to 
spend  it  in  sending  the  boys  to  either  Dublin,  Cork,  or 
Youghal,  *  for  all  other  sea-towns  are  possessed  by  the  enemy  ; 
or  else  send  them  at  once  into  Holland  to  enter  the  service  of 
the  Prince  of  Orange,  by  which  they  could  maintain  them- 
selves. But  as  I  am  compelled  in  my  age  to  do,  so  must  they 
in  their  young  years  commend  them  to  the  raising  of  their 
estates,  to  God's  blessing  and  their  own  good  fortune.  .  .  . 
But  if  they  serve  God  and  be  careful  and  discreet  in  their 
carriage,  God  will  bless  and  provide  for  them  as  hitherto  He 
hath  done  for  me,  who  began  in  the  raising  of  my  fortune  by 
my  good  endeavours  without  any  assistance  of  parents  or 
friends,  and  yet  when  this  general  torrent  of  rebellion  brake 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  403 

forth,  I  did  not  know  that  subject  in  his  Majesty's  three 
kingdoms  with  whom  I  would  have  changed  fortunes,  all 
things  duly  considered.  But  I  comfort  myself  as  they  must 
do  with  the  sayings  of  King  David,  "  Once  I  was  young  and 
now  am  old,  yet  never  saw  I  the  righteous  forsaken."  I 
know  well  you  will  be  too  generous  to  leave  them  till  you  see 
them  shipped  for  Ireland,  or  well  entered  in  the  wars  in 
Holland  ;  but  in  any  case  I  pray  be  very  circumspect  how  you 
spend  this  last  ^250,  and  put  all  unnecessary  servants  and 
dependants  from  you.  .  .  .  Into  England  I  will  not  consent 
they  shall  come/  he  ended  proudly,  '  till  Ireland  be  recovered, 
for  I  have  neither  present  money  nor  means  to  defray  their 
expenses  there ;  and  for  them  that  have  been  so  well  main- 
tained, to  appear  there  without  money,  would  grieve  and 
disgrace  me,  and  draw  contempt  upon  us  all.' 

Francis  Boyle  soon  gave  his  tutor  to  understand  that  he 
had  no  mind  to  sell  his  sword  to  a  foreign  prince,  while  his 
friends  were  fighting  for  their  lives  at  home  ;  and  returned  to 
Ireland  early  in  the  summer,  to  show  himself  as  gallant  a 
gentleman  as  any  of  the  Boyles. 

Robert,  who  was  just  recovering  from  a  severe  illness,  was 
made  extremely  miserable  by  the  separation  from  his  brother 
and  the  alarming  suggestion  that  he  should  begin  life  as  a 
soldier  of  fortune  in  Holland.  He  wrote  from  Lyons  to  beg 
his  father  to  explain  more  clearly  why  he  suggested  Holland 
for  his  future  home.  c  Besides  that  I  am  already  weary  with 
a  long  journey  of  above  eight  hundred  miles,  I  am  as  yet  too 
weak  to  undertake  a  long  voyage  in  a  strange  country,  where 
when  I  arrive  I  know  nobody  and  have  little  hope  by  reason 
of  my  youth  to  be  received  amongst  the  troops.'  He 
beseeches  his  father  to  tell  him  if  he  could  be  of  any  service 
in  Ireland,  where  he  says  Francis  was  preparing  to  go,  *  to 


404     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

secure  your  Lordship  according  to  his  power.'  He  adds  that 
Perkins  had  not  yet  forwarded  the  money  promised,  for  sad 
to  tell,  that  sorely  needed  £250  stuck  fast  in  the  tailor's  pocket. 

Lord  Cork  wrote  the  following  November  reproaching 
Perkins  for  deceiving  his  trust,  and  keeping  back  the  supplies, 
for  '  God  knows  with  what  difficulty  I  have  got  these  moneys 
together,  to  make  good  my  reputation  and  supply  my  children's 
occasion' ;  to  all  which  Perkins  answered  with  jaunty  assurance 
that  he  had  kept  back  the  money  to  pay  for  the  young  Lords' 
parliament  robes,  and  Lord  Kinalmeaky's  debts.  He  explained, 
however,  that  he  himself  was  hardly  in  better  plight  than  the 
Irish  grandees,  for  he  had  been  twice  arrested  on  Lady 
Kildare's  account,  and  once  on  Lady  Lettice  Goring's,  and 
had  been  obliged  to  pawn  his  plate,  and  then  ends  his  letter 
in  all  the  friendliness  of  conscious  rectitude,  with  the  news  that 
the  Parliament  had  voted  seven  thousand  men  for  Munster, 
'  and  the  King  makes  preparations  for  Ireland  if  the  Parlia- 
ment hinder  not.*  In  spite,  however,  of  these  specious 
explanations,  Robert  Boyle  had  never  any  doubt  that  Perkins 
had  been  unworthy  of  the  old  Earl's  confidence  and  had 
embezzled  the  money. 

Robert  being  thus  left  without  resources,  clung  to  the 
only  friend  he  had  on  the  Continent,  and  returned  with 
Mr.  Marcombes  to  Geneva,  there  to  await  better  days,  sup- 
ported partly  by  his  tutor's  generosity  and  partly  by  money 
obtained  through  the  sale  of  his  jewels.  Letters  from  him 
came  to  cheer  his  father's  anxious  days,  and  a  tattered  fragment 
of  a  loving  bit  of  nonsense,  sent  to  congratulate  his  brother 
Kinalmeaky  on  his  military  successes,  still  survives. 

It  is  dated  August  1642,  and  tells  that  Robin  is  in  'good 
health,  lodging  with  Mr.  Marcombes,  where  I  want  nothing 
but  some  comfortable  letters  out  of  England  or  Ireland,  and 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  405 

where  I  daily  expect  fresh  orders  and  money  from  my  father. 
.  .  .  Mr.  Marcombes  takes  almost  as  great  a  part  in  your 
interests  [as  though]  they  were  his  own.'  Scribbled  on  the 
margin  is,  *  These  lines  dear  brother  are  not  able  to  express 
the  least  part  of  my  inviolable  affection,  wherefore  I  beseech 
you  not  to  measure  it  by  my  expressions,  but  to  suspend  your 
judgment  till  I  have  the  happiness  to  enjoy  a  little  your 
company,  or  to  assure  you  by  effects  that  my  affection  passeth 
very  much  my  expression.  Adieu  dearest  Lewis.  Idle  cosin. 
Bon  Anne.  Eon  SoU.  Eon  Vespre.  Adieiue.  a  Di  vous 
commanded  1 

Robert's  letter  to  his  father  is  of  course  much  more  formal ; 
he  says  that  he  has  resigned  himself  to  remaining  at  Geneva, 
where  he  means  to  study  so  diligently  '  that  at  my  coming 
home  I  may  render  myself  capable  of  some  employment  in  the 
affairs  of  Ireland.'  He  is  full  of  gratitude  to  Mr.  Marcombes 
'  whom  I  should  altogether  despair  well  to  requite,  if  your 
Lordship  in  your  letter  had  not  promised  to  take  the  matter 
in  hand.' 

Saving  Robin's  letters,  all  Lord  Cork's  correspondence 
concerned  the  war.  In  spite  of  changes  in  tactics  and  arma- 
ments, war  is  much  the  same  in  all  ages,  and  Broghill's 
reports  to  his  father  on  his  military  operations  have  a 
curiously  modern  ring  ;  when  he  complains  of  officers  who 
ride  into  ambushes  for  lack  of  scouting,  of  farmers  who 
communicate  with  the  enemy,  and  of  the  impossibility  of 
keeping  loyal  settlers  in  safety  in  their  own  homes,  we  might 
be  reading  the  letters  of  a  special  correspondent  in  the  present 
century.  Broghill  explained  to  his  father  that  if  his  tenants 
were  honest,  they  could  make  no  use  of  their  farmhouses,  but 
left  them  empty  as  receptacles  for  rogues,  while  if  they  were 

1  z.  P.,  ii.  v.  96. 


406     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

knaves,  he  saw  no  reason  why  they  should  be  spared  ;  so 
devastation  and  farm-burning  entered  the  fertile  Blackwater 
valley,  and  the  hapless  country  people  had  to  flee  to  whatever 
town  or  fortress  was  willing  to  give  them  refuge.1 

Broghill  also  found  it  necessary  to  reorganise  his  forces  ; 
some  seditious  spirits  so  worked  among  the  foot  soldiers 
that  they  were  bold  enough  to  intimate  to  their  young 
commander  that  their  allowance  was  so  small  that  it  could 
not  keep  body  and  soul  together.  Broghill  decided  that 
after  punishing  the  ringleaders  he  would  get  rid  of  some  of 
his  soldiers  and  make  all  the  rest  musketeers,  for  he  explained 
to  his  father,  '  sixty-five  musqueteers  is  a  greater  strength 
than  forty-eight  musqueteers  and  forty-one  pikemen.'  Fire- 
arms were  already  replacing  the  old-fashioned  pikes  for  war- 
fare among  woods  and  mountains. 

The  difficulties  of  the  defenders  of  Munster  were  greatly 
increased  by  their  enemies  having  been  former  friends  and 
familiar  with  all  their  circumstances.  The  governor  of 
Mocollop  Castle,  Mr.  Henry  Tyrell,  wrote  to  Lord  Cork, 
saying  T.  Carter  had  read  him  a  warrant  purporting  to  come 
from  the  Earl,  authorising  him  to  take  over  the  charge  of 
the  Castle.  Mr.  Tyrell  wrote  that  he  would  be  very  glad  to 
be  relieved  in  favour  of  his  son,  as  his  health  was  giving  way 
from  anxiety  and  work,  and  also  his  garrison  were  grown  so 
careless  that  they  persisted  in  going  out  morning  and  evening 
and  wasting  ammunition  in  shooting  hares  !  But  he  felt  some 
suspicion  about  this  proposal  of  Mr.  Carter's,  and  rightly  so, 
for  Lord  Cork  endorses  the  letter,  '  pretending  a  warrant 
from  me/  and  on  the  8th  of  April  Broghill  arrested  and  sent 
off  Mr.  Carter  to  Youghal  under  suspicion  of  being  a  traitor. 
A  servant  of  Carter's  also  confessed  that  he  had  been  at  the 

i  L.P.,il.5.7t. 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  407 

massacre  of  Mr.  Croker  and  his  servants  at  Ballyancor,  *  for 
which,'  writes  Broghill,  '  unless  your  Lordship  will  have  him 
further  examined,  I  shall  have  him  hanged.'  He  ends  by 
begging  his  father  to  send  him  a  hundred  musketeers 
to-morrow  morning,  and  '  my  life  on  it,  we  will  do  some 
gallant  exploit.' 1 

The  long-expected  troops  from  England  which  arrived  in 
February  were  commanded  by  Sir  Charles  Vavasour,  and 
landed  at  Youghal  in  the  face  of  a  battery  the  Irish  had  set 
up  to  command  the  harbour.  Further  reinforcements  under 
Inchiquin  and  Jephson  and  provision  of  powder  were  landed 
during  the  month,  and  the  spring  days  may  have  seen  some 
hopes  awaken  in  the  breasts  of  the  anxious  garrisons  of 
Munster. 

Unfortunately  these  English  soldiers,  who  came  over  in 
small  bodies  to  reinforce  the  Munster  army,  did  not  make 
the  task  of  the  Irish  commanders  any  easier.  A  feeling  of 
feudal  loyalty  bound  together  the  gentry  and  the  forces  they 
raised  among  their  own  tenantry,  but  the  English  troops  had 
no  hereditary  confidence  in  their  Munster  officers,  and  con- 
sidered themselves  to  be  invaders  of  a  foreign  country. 
When  Broghill  requested  his  father  to  send  a  hundred  men 
to  garrison  Tallagh,  he  adds  impressively  :  *  But  it  must  be 
none  of  the  new  English  companies,  for  their  unruliness  will 
spoil  all ;  but  I  shall  desire  it  might  be  Captain  Finch's 
company,  who  is  a  soldier  and  a  civil  man.' 

Alas  !  as  the  war  went  on  '  civility '  was  less  thought  of. 
The  letters  from  his  sons  to  the  old  Earl  soon  grow  into  a 
dreary  catalogue  of  relentless  cruelty  on  both  sides.  English 
women  stripped  and  hanged  by  the  Irish,  Irish  castles  burnt 
by  the  English,  together  with  all  the  women  and  children 

*  L.  P.,  ii.  5. 39- 


4o8     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

who  had  taken  refuge  in  them,  starving  and  mutinous  soldiers 
— the  reader  sickens  at  the  monotony  of  misery.  Only  here 
and  there  comes  a  letter  that  may  be  read  with  a  sense  of 
relief,  as,  when  Lord  Roche's  castle  was  taken  by  the  English, 
seven  hundred  women  who  had  taken  refuge  there  were  given 
quarter.  The  war  assumed  more  and  more  of  a  guerilla 
character  :  flying  bands  of  Irish  roved  about  the  country, 
hiding  in  woods  and  caves  and  pouncing  down  on  any 
straggling  troops  or  carelessly  defended  fortress. 

Captain  Agmondsham  Muschamp's  account  of  dealing 
with  one  of  these  parties  is  as  lively  as  that  of  any  war 
correspondent  of  to-day.  He  describes  to  Lord  Cork  how 
the  rebels  seized  and  stripped  three  of  his  men  and  carried 
them  off,  debating  as  they  went  what  particular  form  of 
torture  they  should  be  put  to,  when  by  good  luck  Captain 
Muschamp  surprised  them.  Of  course  the  Irish  dropped 
their  victims  and  took  to  the  woods  and  the  river,  and  the 
English  after  them.  'And  I  had  such  sport  that  duck- 
hunting  is  nothing  to  it.'  He  winds  up  with  apologising 
for  his  unpolished  lines,  '  as  he  had  had  no  breeding  but  Sir 
Vincent  Cooking's  !'  Poor  Sir  Vincent's  libel  on  the  Munster 
gentry  would  never  be  forgotten  or  forgiven  for  all  his  formal 
apology  to  the  incensed  Dublin  Parliament. 

If  we  turn  to  the  campaign  in  the  west  of  Munster 
we  might  wish  for  a  whole  volume  to  narrate  the  tragedies 
and  humours  of  Kinalmeaky's  defence  of  Bandon.  The  two 
great  Chieftains,  M'Carthy  Reagh  and  O'Sullivan  of  Bere, 
commanded  the  Irish  in  the  West,  and  when  they  had  swept 
Clonakilty  out  of  existence  they  assaulted  Bandon.  But 
Bandon  was  a  harder  nut  to  crack.  The  townsmen  did  not 
even  consent  to  fight  behind  the  shelter  of  their  walls,  but 
made  a  sortie  and  charged  gallantly  out,  while  Kinalmeaky 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  409 

with  his  horse  took  the  enemy  in  the  rear  and  completely 
routed  them,  killing  one  hundred  and  five,  and  taking  fourteen 
prisoners,  who  were  immediately  hanged,  besides  securing  two 
wagon -loads  of  provisions.  Lord  Cork  wrote  proudly  to 
Warwick  :  f  Now  the  boy  has  blooded  himself  upon  them,  I 
hope  that  God  will  so  bless  him  and  his  Majesty's  forces, 
that  as  I  now  write  but  of  the  killing  of  a  hundred,  I  shall 
shortly  write  of  the  killing  of  thousands,  for  their  unexampled 
cruelty  hath  bred  such  desire  of  revenge  in  us,  as  every  man 
hath  laid  aside  all  compassion  and  is  as  bloody  in  his  desires 
against  them  as  they  have  been  in  their  execution  against  us/  l 
The  Mayor  of  Bandon  writing  in  April  says  that  his  last 
messenger  had  been  taken  prisoner,  and  whether  he  were  hanged 
or  not  he  could  not  tell.  He  then  tells  a  pitiful  story  of  five 
little  children  who  were  sent  out  to  herd  cattle  and  were 
fallen  on  by  the  Irish.  Four  of  the  children  were  killed  and 
the  cows  driven  off,  and  when  the  miserable  parents  reached 
the  spot  they  found  the  surviving  child  grievously  wounded 
and  not  like  to  live.  The  Bandon  men  had  little  doubt  that 
the  raiders  were  M'Carthy's  men  from  Dun  Daniel  Castle, 
and  were  so  wild  for  revenge  that  the  musketeers  marched 
straight  on  the  Castle,  and  so  played  on  it,  that  not  a  man 
looking  out  or  over  the  walls  but  was  killed  ;  and  then 
having  driven  the  offenders  from  the  '  spicks  holes,'  assaulted 
the  door  and  iron  gate  with  sledge-hammers,  and  set  the  door 
on  fire,  and  so  got  into  the  lower  room.  The  enemy  fled  to 
the  top  of  the  tower,  which  was  vaulted  and  had  very  narrow 
stairs,  so  that  the  Bandon  men  could  not  easily  follow  them, 
and  as  it  was  now  dark  they  contented  themselves  with  setting 
the  floors  on  fire  and  carrying  ofT"  a  quantity  of  oatmeal,  and 
so  went  home.  The  next  day  they  found  a  good  many  of 

1  Smith,  ii.  72. 


4io     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

the  rebels  had  escaped  by  ropes  from  the  top  of  the  Castle,  as 
the  fire  could  not  pierce  the  vaulted  roof,  but  many  lay  dead. 
'  How  desperate  and  rash  this  attempt  was,  your  Lordship 
may  judge,'  said  Langton.  '  There  were  three  killed  and  six 
hurt  with  shot  and  stones.  The  men  that  were  killed  were 
two  of  them  your  Lordship's  tenants,  Martin  Colmen  and 
John  Moaky,  and  the  third  was  the  Marshal  of  the  Marshalsea 
in  the  town.  When  they  went  forth  they  had  no  such  intent 
as  to  attempt  the  castle.  If  we  had  known  we  should  have 
used  our  endeavours  to  have  restrained  them  ;  but  that  God 
preserved  them  they  might  well  have  lost  forty  men  and  done 
the  enemy  no  harm.  The  poor  are  heavy  upon  us.  Sickness 
daily  increases.  God  be  merciful  upon  us  and  send  us  timely 
relief,  for  else  we  cannot  but  perish,  and  that  very  shortly.' 1 

The  hare-brained  soldiers  were  equal  to  assaulting  a  fortified 
castle  with  only  their  muskets  in  their  hands,  but  they  chafed 
at  the  monotony  of  a  siege,  more  especially  as  their  pay  was 
very  uncertain.  The  Mayor,  Mr.  Langton,  wrote  that  the 
journeymen  of  the  town  were  slipping  away  to  Cork,  to 
enlist  there  as  regular  soldiers  and  be  sure  of  pay. 

Kinalmeaky  loved  as  little  to  sit  inside  stone  walls  as  did 
the  Bandon  journeymen,  and  he  resolved  on  revenging  the 
massacre  of  Clonakilty  and  bearding  M'Carthy  Reagh  by 
capturing  his  magnificent  Castle  of  Kilbrittan.  Kinalmeaky 
set  his  ingenuity  to  work  to  invent  some  better  way  of 
assaulting  this  coveted  fortress  than  shooting  with  muskets  at 
the  defenders  through  the  loopholes,  and  manufactured  one  of 
the  moveable  sheds  on  wheels  that  had  been  used  in  classical 
warfare  ;  he  was  immensely  proud  of  this  Sow,  as  it  was 
called,  and  wrote  to  his  father  :  '  Your  Lordship  may  be 
pleased  to  know  that  on  the  first  of  June  I  took  Coolmaine 

1  L.  P.,  ii.  5.  47-9. 


THE   EARL'S   SONS  411 

and  Kilbrittan  Castles,  the  last  denying  to  yield  till  such  time 
as  they  saw  my  mortal  Sow.  I  have  left  twenty  musqueteers 
in  each.' 

Lord  Cork,  whatever  his  fears  for  the  future,  never  lost 
confidence  in  the  strength  and  steadfastness  of  Bandon,  and 
in  the  spirit  of  those  Romans  who  sold  and  bought  the  land 
on  which  the  invading  Hannibal's  camp  was  pitched,  occupied 
himself  during  these  eventful  months  by  drawing  up  a  lease 
of  the  part  of  Bandon  known  as  Coolfadda  and  letting  it  to  a 
Mr.  Matthias  Anstice.  Bandon  can  indeed  boast  itself  a 
virgin  fortress.  No  enemy  ever  found  a  footing  inside  its 
tall  black  walls. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

AT  BAY 
1642—1643 

* ....  as  that  dishonest  victory, 
At  Chaeronea,  fatal  to  liberty, 
Killed  with  report  that  old  man  eloquent.' 

MILTON,  «  SONNET  TO  THE  LADY  M.  LEY.' 

STUBBORNLY  as  the  English  settlers  fought,  the  summer  of 
1642  saw  their  command  of  Munster  limited  to  the  castles 
and  walled  towns.  They  were  now  too  few  to  do  more  than 
venture  an  occasional  raid  into  the  open  country,  and  without 
a  fresh  supply  of  men  and  ammunition  it  was  uncertain  how 
long  they  could  keep  command  of  the  strong  places  that  were 
still  in  their  hands. 

The  situation  could  hardly  be  worse  ;  yet  now  a  new  blow 
fell  upon  Munster.  Lord  President  St.  Leger,  worn  out  with 
fatigues  and  anxieties,  died  on  the  2nd  of  July  at  his  house 
of  Doneraile.  His  death  not  only  deprived  the  English  of 
a  brave  general  and  a  judicious  governor,  it  threw  an  apple 
of  discord  into  the  province,  and  all  the  great  men  fell  to 
quarrelling  who  should  succeed  to  his  office. 

As  a  temporary  expedient  the  Lords  Justices  wrote  from 
Dublin  desiring  Lord  Inchiquin  and  Lord  Barrymore  to  share 
the  government  of  the  province,  and  begged  Lord  Cork  '  to 
assist  them  with  his  counsel  as  far  as  his  indisposition  would 
allow.' 

412 


AT   BAY  413 

During  Lord  Cork's  long  life  storms  and  dangers  had 
always  ended  by  tossing  him  to  a  higher  pitch  of  greatness, 
and  now  the  disasters  that  had  fallen  upon  Ireland  raised  him 
to  be  the  supreme  authority  in  Munster,  for  Barrymore, 
though  nominally  the  governor,  still  referred  to  his  father- 
in-law's  judgment  with  the  dutiful  reverence  of  a  son.  Gentle 
and  simple  all  united  in  assuring  the  old  Earl  that  he  was  the 
sole  stay  and  hope  of  the  English  in  the  South  of  Ireland,  and 
the  Lords  Justices  sent  formal  messages  to  his  sons,  thanking 
Broghill  for  his  good  services  in  the  war,  and  giving  Kinal- 
meaky  a  '  custodiam '  of  all  the  lands  in  the  country  round 
Bandon  which  M'Carthy  Reagh  might  be  considered  to  have 
forfeited  by  his  rebellion. 

But  this  dignity  of  the  Earl's  last  days  was  in  truth  but 
a  phantom  glory.  The  jealousies  and  suspicions  that  were, 
in  Carlyle's  words,  to  make  Ireland  '  a  huge  blot,  an  indis- 
criminate blackness,'  were  already  at  work,  and  Cork  was 
driven  to  fear  that  his  nominal  allies  might  really  be  his  worst 
enemies,  and  that  their  compliments  and  friendly  words  only 
covered  designs  of  treachery. 

Hitherto  Englishmen  had  forgotten  their  private  rancours 
and  private  advantages,  and  held  all  together  for  the  sake  of 
England.  Little  love  as  the  Boyles  had  felt  for  St.  Leger, 
they  believed  him  to  be  an  honest  man  and  a  good  soldier, 
but  they  had  never  liked  nor  trusted  his  son-in-law  and  suc- 
cessor, Murrough  O'Brien,  Lord  Inchiquin.  Although 
Inchiquin  belonged  to  the  Protestant  branch  of  the  O'Briens, 
it  seemed  to  the  Boyles  that  he  was  unnecessarily  cordial  to 
his  popish  cousins  in  the  Irish  camp,1  and  although  profuse 
of  loyal  speeches,  they  feared  that  he  was  really  taking 
advantage  of  the  divisions  in  England  to  intrigue  by  turns 

1  See  Verney  Mem.,  ii.  56. 


4i4     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

with  both  King  and  Parliament  in  order  to  sell  his  sword  to 
the  highest  bidder. 

It  was  difficult  to  find  proof  of  absolute  bad  faith  on 
Inchiquin's  part,  but  it  was  obvious  to  all  that  he  intended  to 
carry  on  the  war  as  suited  his  own  convenience  and  advantage, 
and  before  long  Lord  Barrymore  completely  lost  his  temper, 
and  declared  that  he  was  tempted  to  throw  up  his  com- 
mand and  retire  to  England,  rather  than  wait  to  see  the 
country  ruined,  and  the  Munster  army  merely  employed  to 
guard  Inchiquin's  private  property. 

It  is  possible  that  Lord  Cork  may  have  desired  to  forestall 
Inchiquin's  intrigues  with  the  powers  in  Westminster,  or  he 
may  only  have  grown  weary  of  crying  to  the  King  for  help 
which  he  was  not  able  to  give.  Whatever  may  have  been  the 
reasons,  he  despatched  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Commons  one  of  the  most  dignified  and  eloquent  appeals 
that  ever  have  reached  Parliament.  And  yet,  if  one  did  not 
know  how  slowly  the  human  race  learns  the  most  obvious 
lessons,  it  would  be  as  strange  as  it  is  sad  to  see  the  old 
counsels  of  Elizabeth's  day  repeated  once  more.  Confiscation 
and  outlawry,  the  weapons  that  had  been  tried  fifty  years 
before,  were  still  the  only  means  Lord  Cork  could  suggest  to 
pacify  Ireland.  But  with  the  Elizabethan  policy  there  is  also 
the  Elizabethan  fighting  spirit  in  the  old  Earl's  words,  and 
even  the  English  Parliament  was  stirred,  and  directed  that 
his  letter  should  be  printed  and  distributed  under  the 
title  : 

*A  copie  of  a  Letter  sent  by  Mr.  Speaker  to  all  the 
Corporations  of  England — And  the  like  also  to  all  the  Justices 
of  Peace  in  the  severall  counties  of  England :  Drawn  out  by 
order  of  the  House  of  Commons.  Also,  a  Worthie  and 
learned  and  religious  Speech  Delivered  by  the  Earl  of  Cork  to 


AT   BAY  415 

the  protestant  Lords,  knights  and  gentlemen  of  Ireland  at  a 
general  Assembly  holden  at  Cork,  Jan.  20,  1641  [1642].' 

This  speech,  delivered  the  previous  January,  recapitulates 
the  horrors  they  had  seen,  warns  them  that  the  danger  is 
universal,  and  winds  up  : 

'  I  am  afraid  I  have  been  too  tedious  in  my  discourse,  but 
I  will  now  end  in  a  word  :  let  not  the  insolency  of  the  enemy 
or  consideration  of  the  hazard,  prevail  over  the  goodness  and 
justice  of  the  cause  and  your  noble  and  undaunted  courage,  but 
be  as  valiant  as  your  cause  is  just,  and  I  doubt  not  that  success 
will  crown  your  actions  with  honour,  procure  peace  and  quiet 
both  to  your  consciences  and  possessions,  and  so  shall  you  in- 
herit the  everlasting  names  of  men  religious  and  pious  to  your 
God,  loyal  to  your  sovereign,  and  faithful  to  your  country.' 

The  letter  to  the  Speaker,  after  Lord  Cork's  invariable 
and  dignified  fashion,  ignores  any  possibility  of  strife  between 
the  King  and  Parliament. 

THE  EARL  OF  CORK  TO  THE  SPEAKER  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF 

COMMONS  IN  ENGLAND1 

'  SIR, — Although  I  have  not  had  the  happiness  to  be 
acquainted  with  you,  yet  holding  it  a  necessary  duty  in  me 
(since  the  Lord  President  is  dead)  to  make  known  unto  your- 
self and  the  honourable  House  of  Commons  the  present  state 
of  the  province  of  Munster,  where  my  poor  fortune  and  very 
many  other  English  protestants  do  lie  ;  you  may  be  pleased 
to  understand,  that  Munster,  the  fourth  and  best  part  of  this 
kingdom,  being  overspread  with  infinite  multitudes  of  rebels, 
the  better  to  discourage  and  dishearten  them,  I  have,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Earl  of  Barrimore,  the  Lord  Viscount  of 
Killmallock,  and  my  two  sons,  Dungarvan  and  Broghill  (by 

1  Printed  in  State  Letters,  first  Earl  of  Orrery,  Morrice,  i.  8,  16. 


4i 6     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

the  advice  of  the  Lords  Justices  and  council  of  Ireland,  who 
enabled  me  with  commission  to  that  effect)  lately  held  sessions 
in  the  several  counties  of  Corke  and  Waterford,  and  even 
beyond  the  expectation  of  all  men  have  proceeded  so  far  as, 
by  juries  free  from  all  exception,  to  indict  the  Lords  Viscounts 
Roch,  Montgarret,  Ikerrin,  and  Muskerry,  and  the  Barons  of 
Dunboyne  and  Castleconnell,  with  the  son  and  heir  of  the 
Lord  of  Cahir,  Theobald  Purcell,  Baron  of  Loghmoe,  Richard 
Butler,  of  Killcash,  Esq.,  brother  to  my  very  good  Lord  the 
Earl  of  Ormonde,  with  all  other  the  baronets,  knights,  esquires, 
gentlemen,  freeholders,  and  popish  priests,  in  number  above 
eleven  hundred,  that  either  dwell,  or  have  entered  and  done 
any  rebellious  act  in  those  two  counties  ;  which  indictments  I 
make  bold  to  send  unto  you  to  be  presented  unto  the  House, 
to  the  end  they  may  be  there  considered  of  by  such  members 
thereof  as  are  learned  in  the  laws  ;  that,  if  they  be  wanting  in 
any  formal  point  of  the  law,  they  may  be  reformed  and  recti- 
fied, and  returned  unto  me,  with  such  amendments  as  they 
shall  think  fit  :  and  so  (if  the  House  please  to  direct)  to  have 
them  all  proceeded  against  to  out-la  wry  ;  whereby  his  Majesty 
may  be  entitled  to  their  lands  and  possessions,  which  (I  dare 
boldly  affirm)  was  at  the  beginning  of  this  insurrection  not  of 
so  little  yearly  value  as  two  hundred  thousand  pounds.     This 
course  of  proceedings  against  the  Lords  and  the  rest  was  not 
by  them  suspected,  and,  I  assure  you,  doth  much  startle  and 
terrify  them  ;  for  now  they  begin  (though  too  late)  to  take 
notice,  that  they  are  in  a  good  forwardness  to  be  attainted, 
and  all  their  estates   confiscated,  to  the   corruption  of  their 
blood,  and  extirpation  of  them  and  their  families.     And  the 
height  of  their  revenge  is  principally  bent  against  the  Earl  of 
Barrimore,  myself,  and  my  two  sons,  which  we  all  foresaw 
before  we  entered  upon  this  work  of  works.     Sir,  I  pray  give 


AT   BAY  417 

me  leave  to  present  unto  yourself  and  that  honourable  house, 
that  this  great  and  general  rebellion  broke  forth  in  October 
last,  at  the  very  instant  when  I  landed  here  out  of  England  ; 
and  though  it  appeared  first  at  Ulster,  yet  I  (who  am  three- 
score and  sixteen  years  of  age,  and  have  eaten  the  most  part 
of  my  bread  in  Ireland  these  four  and  fifty  years,  and  by 
reason  of  my  several  employments  and  commands  in  the 
government  of  this  province  and  kingdom)  could  not  but 
apprehend  that  the  infection  and  contagion  was  general,  and 
would  by  degrees  quickly  creep  into  this  province,  as  forth- 
with it  did.  And  for  that  I  found  to  my  great  grief,  that  by 
the  courses  the  late  Earl  of  Strafford  had  taken,  all  or  the 
greatest  part  of  the  English  and  protestants  in  this  province 
were  deprived  of  their  arms,  and  debarred  from  having  any 
powder  in  their  houses,  and  the  king's  magazines  here  being 
so  weakly  furnished,  as  in  a  manner  they  were  empty ;  I  with- 
out delay  furnished  all  my  castles  in  these  two  counties  with 
such  ammunition  as  my  poor  armoury  did  afford,  and  sent 
three  hundred  pounds  sterling  into  England  to  be  bestowed 
in  ammunition  for  myself  and  tenants  ;  and  put  in  sufficient 
guards  and  nine  months'  victuals  into  every  of  my  castles, 
which,  I  thank  God,  I  have  hitherto  preserved  and  made  good, 
not  without  giving  great  annoyance  out  of  these  castles  to  the 
rebels.  And  for  that  the  late  Lord  President  did  judiciously 
observe,  that  the  preservation  of  this  important  town  and  harbour 
of  Yoghall  was  of  principal  consequence  to  be  maintained  and 
kept  for  the  service  of  the  crown  ;  and  presuming  that  no  man 
did  exceed  me  in  power  and  ability  to  make  it  good,  he  pre- 
vailed with  me  so  far  for  the  advancement  of  his  Majesty's 
service,  and  securing  of  this  considerable  town  and  harbour, 
as  to  leave  my  own  strong  and  defensible  house  of  Lismore 
(which  was  well  provided  of  ordnance  and  all  things  fitting  for 

2  D 


4i 8     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

defence),  to  the  guard  of  my  son  Broghill,  with  an  hundred 
horse  and  an  hundred  foot,  and  to  retire  hither,  whither  I 
brought  two  foot  companies  of  an  hundred  apiece,  all  com- 
pounded of  English  Protestants,  and  well  disciplined,  and 
them  at  my  charges  armed,  being  men  experienced,  and 
formerly  seasoned  with  the  air  of  this  country,  wherein  they 
are  good  guides.  And  hitherto  (I  do  thank  my  God)  this 
town  and  harbour  are  made  good,  and  is  a  receptacle,  not  only 
for  shipping,  but  also  for  thousands  of  distressed  Englishmen, 
which  have  been  dispossessed  and  stripped  by  the  rebels,  and 
found  succour  and  safety  here.  And  these  two  hundred  men, 
that  I  have  kept  here  all  the  last  winter  until  now  to  defend 
this  town,  I  did  weekly  pay  by  poll  three  shillings  and  sixpence 
a  week,  until  the  first  of  March  last ;  and  then  my  own  monies 
failing,  my  son  Dungarvan  did  procure  order  from  the  Parlia- 
ment for  four  months  entertainment,  beginning  the  first  of 
March  and  ending  the  last  of  June  ;  for  which  as  I  am  most 
thankful,  so  I  beseech  you,  that  order  may  be  given  for  the 
four  months  from  the  beginning  of  November  till  the  first  of 
March,  and  from  the  said  last  of  June  hitherto,  and  for  the 
time  succeeding.  The  troop  of  horse  and  hundred  foot, 
which  were  and  are  garrisoned  at  Lismore,  I  have  also  ever 
since  weekly  paid  in  ready  money  by  poll,  as  I  do  the  foot 
company  to  this  day.  But  I  humbly  thank  the  Parliament, 
they  have  been  nobly  pleased,  the  beginning  of  last  month,  to 
bring  my  son  Broghill  with  his  troop  of  horse  into  his 
Majesty's  pay  ;  which  favour  he  will  (I  hope),  by  his  service 
merit.  I  then  likewise  employed  my  second  son  Kynalmeaky 
to  command  and  govern  a  town  in  the  west  of  my  erection, 
called  Bandonbridge,  the  walling  and  fortifying  whereof  stood 
me  in  £14,000,  wherein  are  at  least  seven  thousand  souls, 
all  English  Protestants,  and  not  one  Irishman  or  Papist 


AT   BAY  419 

dwelling  therein,  where  there  have  been  ever  since,  and  yet 
are  maintained,  one  hundred  horse  and  four  hundred  foot ; 
which  town  (notwithstanding  several  violent  assaults  and 
attempts)  hath  not  only  been  maintained  and  defended,  but 
they  have  made  many  sallies  forth  upon  the  rebels,  and  given 
them  several  great  overthrows  ;  and  indeed  beyond  expecta- 
tion (and  even  almost  to  admiration),  have  gained  some  seven 
castles  from  the  traitors  ;  some  of  which  they  have  burned 
and  sleighted,  and  the  rest  they  maintain  with  good  wards, 
being  great  bridles  upon  the  enemy.  And  yet  these  nine 
months  they  have  not  had  one  penny  entertainment  from 
the  King  nor  Parliament,  only  the  Honourable  House  of 
Commons  taking  notice  of  their  remarkable  services,  have  lately 
very  graciously  bestowed  upon  them  four  hundred  musquets 
with  powder,  match,  and  lead,  fifty  swords,  two  hundred 
belts,  two  drums,  five  new  colours,  and  some  other  victuals 
and  habiliments  of  war  ;  for  which  great  favour  I  beseech  you 
present  that  honourable  house  with  mine  and  their  humblest 
thanks  ;  and  if  these  ammunitions  had  been  accompanied  with 
some  reasonable  proportion  of  money  and  clothes,  it  would 
have  crowned  their  other  bounties,  and  kept  the  soldiers  from 
mutiny  and  disorder.  But  they  having  had  no  pay  but  my 
poor  revenue  these  nine  months,  makes  them  disobedient  to 
commands,  and  apt  to  complain  of  their  governor  ;  for  whom 
it  is  in  a  manner  impossible  to  keep  so  great  a  number  of  men 
in  wants,  and  withal  in  good  appetite  and  affection  towards 
him,  when  he  hath  no  money  from  King  or  Parliament  to 
content  them  withal.  And,  therefore,  I  beseech  you,  let  no 
aspersions  be  fastened  upon  him,  until  he  be  heard  to  deliver 
his  own  acquittal  ;  for  it  is  not  his  carriage,  but  the  want  of 
money  that  displeaseth  them,  which,  it  is  my  humble  suit,  may 
be  speedily  redressed. 


42o     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

'  The  Earl  of  Barrimore  hath,  in  these  times  of  general 
defection,  expressed  as  much  loyalty  to  the  King  and  Parlia- 
ment, and  as  much  constancy  to  his  religion,  as  could  be 
desired,  even  almost  beyond  hope ;  and  in  the  height  of  scorn 
resisted  to  accept  the  place  of  being  general  of  the  Irish  forces 
of  this  province,  and  other  tenders  of  exceeding  great  pay  and 
advantage;  for  whose  constancy  to  the  crown,  and  refusal  of 
their  offers,  they  have  burned  and  wasted  his  whole  country. 
He  is  the  eldest  colonel  in  this  province  ;  and  yet  now  that  all 
his  revenue  is  taken  from  him  by  the  rebels  (unto  whom  no 
man  shows  so  little  favour)  he  hath  only  a  troop  of  horse  in  pay, 
which  he  raised,  horsed,  and  armed  at  his  own  charge,  without 
allowance  from  the  king  or  parliament ;  (as  both  my  sons  Kynal- 
meaky's  and  BroghilTs  troops  were  by  me  ;)  and  maintaineth 
always  at  least  200  foot  in  the  field  without  pay  at  his  own 
charges,  and  hath  nothing  but  what  he  fighteth  with  the  rebels 
for,  and  getteth  by  his  sword  ;  he  having  lately  hanged  forty- 
three  notable  rebels  for  a  breakfast,  whose  service  and  en- 
couragement therein  I  sensibly  offer  to  the  consideration  of 
the  honourable  house  of  commons,  (and  wish  that  he  had  a 
regiment  bestowed  upon  him;)  as  also  the  infinite  prejudice 
this  province  suffers  by  the  delay  of  not  sending  over  those 
5000  foot  and  500  horse,  with  money  and  ammunition,  which 
the  parliament  (as  I  am  informed)  long  since  ordered  to  be 
transported  hither,  as  an  increase  to  the  forces  of  this  pro- 
vince ;  which,  if  they  had  timely  arrived,  might  in  all  proba- 
bility have  prevented  the  loss  of  the  castle  and  ordnance  of 
Limerick,  which  the  rebels  do  now  possess,  and  do  in  great 
numbers  march  abroad  with  the  cannon,  and  other  ordnance 
which  they  got  there  ;  and  therewith  have  lately  gained  the 
castles  of  Kilfinny,  Newcastle,  Crome,  Rathkeele  and  all  other 
the  castles  in  the  county  of  Limerick,  which  they  have  sum- 


AT   BAY  421 

moned  or  shot  at,  and  till  then  held  firm  ;  so  as  we  have  only 
two  castles  in  the  county,  the  one  called  Loghgirr,  belonging 
to  the  Earl  of  Bath,  which  is  yet  defended  ;  and  a  castle  of 
mine  called  Askeating,  wherein  I  have  without  charge,  either 
to  the  king  or  parliament,  kept  and  maintained  an  hundred 
men  ever  since  this  rebellion ;  which  castle  Captain  Robert 
Constable,  who  commanded  the  ship  called  the  Ruth  (when 
he  brought  800  distressed  protestants  out  of  the  castle  of 
Limerick,)  did  lately  and  very  worthily  relieve  with  one  piece 
of  ordnance,  powder,  match,  lead,  salt,  and  other  necessaries. 
But  the  rebels  came  so  thick  and  fast  upon  him,  as  he  could 
not  bring  in  thither  any  supply  of  victuals.  And  that  strong 
castle  of  Askeating  is  now  besieged  with  4000  of  the  enemies, 
and  we  have  no  sufficient  force  in  this  province  to  rescue  or 
relieve  it.  And  it  is  most  true,  that  those  three  regiments, 
which  the  king  and  parliament  sent  over  for  this  province, 
under  the  command  of  Sir  Charles  Vavasor,  Sir  John  Pawlett, 
and  Sir  William  Ogle,  are  so  lessened,  weakened,  and  made 
unserviceable  by  fluxes,  small-pox,  fevers,  and  with  long 
marches,  and  lying  upon  the  cold  ground,  as  we  are  not  able 
out  of  these  three  Regiments  to  draw  into  the  field  twelve 
hundred  able  and  serviceable  men,  death  and  sickness  having 
reduced  them  to  so  weak  a  condition.  And,  Sir,  I  beseech 
you,  believe  this  great  truth  from  me,  that  if  the  king  and 
parliament  be  not  pleased  speedily  to  send  hither  liberal 
supplies  of  all  our  beforementioned  wants,  we  shall  be 
deprived  of  a  very  plentiful  harvest ;  the  enjoying  whereof  by 
the  rebels  will  be  a  mighty  accommodation  to  them,  and  an 
unspeakable  disadvantage  to  us ;  and  the  whole  province  must 
be  deserted  and  left  to  the  enemy ;  and  all  the  English  forces 
will  be  compelled  to  retire  into  the  city  of  Corke,  and  the 
towns  of  Yoghall,  Kingsale  and  Bandonbridge,  (for  more 


422     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

walled  towns  than  those  there  are  not  in  the  whole  province 
that  hold  for  the  crown ;)  the  unexpressible  consequence 
whereof  the  honourable  house  of  commons  will,  I  hope,  upon 
this  my  true  relation,  speedily  commiserate,  and  have  a  feeling 
of  those  our  increasing  miseries  and  afflictions.  But  I  posi- 
tively affirm,  that  if  any  farther  delay  be  used,  it  will  be  our 
ruin  and  the  loss  of  this  late  flourishing  and  plentiful  pro- 
vince :  and  if  your  providence  furnish  us  not  presently  with 
liberal  supplies,  it  will  be  the  loss  of  Munster  ;  and  of  all  the 
good  English  protestant  subjects  therein  ;  who,  with  the  loss 
of  their  blood  and  hazard  of  their  lives,  have  hitherto  with 
great  danger  upheld  that  little  remain  that  we  keep. 

*  For  my  own  part,  Mr.  Speaker,  I  assure  you  this  great 
truth,  that  I  had  a  very  considerable  estate  and  revenue  when 
this  rebellion  began  ;  and  when  I  retired  to  this  town  I  left  a 
garrison  of  an  hundred  horse  and  an  hundred  foot  at  Lismore  ; 
and  that  foot  company  I  have  weekly  paid  out  of  my  own 
purse  till  this  day,  and  the  troop  till  the  last  month,  that  they 
were  brought  into  pay  under  the  command  of  my  son  Broghill ; 
the  hundred  foot  at  Askeating  I  have  also  since  the  beginning 
of  the  rebellion  given  satisfaction  unto.  And  as  for  the 
hundred  horse  and  four  hundred  foot  under  the  command  of 
my  son  Kynalmeaky  at  Bandonbridge,  neither  King  nor  Par- 
liament hath  vouchsafed  hitherto  to  send  them  either  clothes 
or  money,  and  for  want  of  pay  they  now  mutiny.  The  two 
foot  companies,  that  guarded  Yoghall,  I  have  paid  out  of  my 
own  purse  since  the  beginning  of  these  troubles,  save  only  the 
four  months'  entertainment,  which  the  Parliament  sent  over 
unto  them.  I  have  maintained  and  do  yet  keep  guards  in  my 
several  castles,  which  have  much  annoyed  the  rebels.  All  those 
soldiers  in  these  several  places  are  out  of  clothes.  I  do  affirm 
and  will  make  good  this  undeniable  truth,  that  my  two  sons 


AT   BAY  423 

Kynalmeaky  and  Broghill,  with  those  forces  that  I  have  raised 
and  satisfied  and  they  command,  have  been  the  destruction  of 
above  three  thousand  rebels  since  the  beginning  of  the  insur- 
rection. I  have  been  compelled  to  sell  my  plate  and  silver 
vessels  to  pay  the  soldiers.  I  have  been  a  good  constable  to 
preserve  this  town  and  harbour,  and  the  King's  peace  in  those 
parts.  I  have  with  a  free  heart  and  a  liberal  hand  spent  all 
that  I  have,  and  am  able  to  do  no  more.  I  grieve  not  at  my 
own  losses  and  wants,  though  they  have  been  very  great  ; 
but  to  see  these  seasoned  and  well-disciplined  companies  (an 
hundred  whereof  for  the  present  are  more  serviceable  than 
three  hundred  fresh  men),  to  be  without  clothes  or  pay, 
afflicts  me  at  the  soul. 

'  The  one  hundred  and  odd  pounds  which  the  House  of 
Commons  sent  over  by  my  son  Dungarvan,  to  relieve  this 
poor  town,  hath  been  faithfully  distributed  among  the  poor 
English  Protestants,  who  in  exchange  do  tender  unto  you 
their  humblest  thanks,  and  pray  for  your  prosperity.  And  so, 
beseeching  you  and  the  Honourable  House  of  Commons  to 
take  this  my  true  (though  tedious)  relation  to  heart,  and  to 
provide  speedy  remedies  to  keep  us  in  life,  making  it  my 
incessant  prayer  to  the  Almighty,  that  God  will  bless  and 
direct  you  in  all  your  actions  and  intentions,  I  take  leave,  and 
rest  the  servant  of  your  commands.  R.  CORKE.' 

'YOGHALL,  Aug.  25,  1642.' 

'  The  towns  of  Wexford  and  Dungarvan  are  both  by  sea 
lately  furnished  from  Rochelle  with  store  of  powder  and 
ammunition,  whereof  I  had  a  certain  advertisement  this  day  ; 
and  an  admonition  to  the  commanders  of  those  ships,  that  are 
in  pay  from  the  House,  to  range  and  watch  the  seas  better,  is 
humbly  desired  as  most  requisite.' 


424 

The  month  after  this  appeal  to  England  was  drawn  up, 
Lord  Inchiquin  had  to  ask  Lord  Cork  for  every  man  who 
could  be  spared  from  the  garrison  of  Youghal,  for  the  Irish, 
having  made  themselves  master  of  all  the  strongholds  in 
County  Limerick,  and  having  besieged  and  taken  Askeaton, 
were  advancing  southward  into  Cork,  promising  themselves, 
says  a  contemporary  tract,1  to  win  all  Munster  at  a  blow,  for 
they  were  assured  the  tidings  of  a  single  Irish  victory  would 
rouse  Youghal,  Cork,  and  Kinsale,  '  where  there  were  not 
four  hundred  soldiers  left,  to  cut  the  throats  of  their  garrison 
and  declare  themselves  for  the  rebels.' 

They  brought  with  them  the  guns  they  had  taken  at 
Limerick,  and  a  brass  siege  piece  of  6890  pounds  weight,  'the 
fame  of  which,'  says  the  tract  quoted  above,  *  won  more  castles 
than  the  valour  of  their  whole  army.'  This  tremendous  gun 
was  conveyed  across  the  bogs  in  a  hollowed-out  tree  trunk, 
dragged  by  twenty-five  yoke  of  oxen,  and  it  proved  so  effec- 
tive that  the  strong  castle  of  Liscarrol  surrendered  to  them 
after  three  days'  siege.2 

Inchiquin  hurried  to  the  front,  calling  all  the  Boyles  to 
join  him,  and  with  his  brothers  came  Francis  to  flesh  his 
maiden  sword  in  the  battle  that  was  to  roll  back  the  tide  of 
invasion  from  Munster. 

On  the  third  of  September  Inchiquin's  forces  reached 
Liscarrol,  almost  fainting  from  their  rapid  march  and  lack  of 
supplies.3  They  found  the  Irish  strongly  posted,  their  left 
wing  resting  on  Liscarrol  Castle,  the  right  protected  by  a 
fortification  they  had  raised  on  a  hill  near  by.  Inchiquin  had 
not  discovered  the  shock  tactics  of  Rupert  and  Cromwell, 
and  advanced  in  the  slow  old-fashioned  way,  directing  his 

1  A  Journal,  etc.,  Brit.  Mus.  E.  (123)  15. 

-  (Carte  :  Others  say  the  castle  held  out  13  days.)  3  Carte. 


AT   BAY  425 

troopers  not  to  charge,  but  fire  off  their  carbines  and  wheel  to 
the  rear  to  reload.  In  doing  so,  they  threw  their  rear  rank 
into  confusion,  and  the  Irish  who  had  refused  to  be  drawn 
from  their  position,  now  dashed  in  among  the  broken  ranks 
and  forced  them  back.  Dungarvan  was  only  saved  by  the 
excellence  of  his  armour,  and  Inchiquin,  separated  in  the  mdlee 
from  his  own  men,  was  seized  and  held  fast  by  an  Irish  trooper 
while  two  others  hacked  at  him  with  their  swords,  and  was 
barely  rescued  by  Jephson,  who  also  succeeded  in  rallying  the 
scattered  horse,  when  after  a  gallant  struggle,  in  which  Broghill 
shot  one  of  the  Irish  ensigns  with  his  own  hand  and  seized 
the  colours,  the  Irish  were  obliged  to  give  back,  and  their 
retreat  soon  turned  to  a  complete  rout.  Meantime  the  Irish 
left  wing  had  been  dislodged  by  Vavasour  from  its  position 
under  the  Castle  and  driven  into  a  bog.  Unhappily  Inchiquin, 
when  he  returned  from  the  pursuit  of  the  right  wing,  mistook 
his  own  army  for  the  enemy,  and  fearing  to  encounter  fresh 
forces,  sounded  trumpets  to  draw  off  his  men.  By  the  time 
his  mistake  was  discovered,  many  of  the  enemy  had  got 
away  and  taken  refuge  in  Sir  William  Power's  bog  of 
Kilbolan. 

In  spite  of  the  escape  of  so  many,  the  victory  of  the 
English  was  decisive.  The  Irish  lost  seven  hundred  men  and 
their  guns,  and  their  advance  into  Cork  was  entirely  checked. 
But  alas,  the  victory  was  dearly  bought.  At  the  very  first 
advance  of  the  skirmishers,  led  forward  by  Inchiquin  to  draw 
the  Irish  from  their  shelter,  a  shot  from  a  hedge  struck  down 
Kinalmeaky.  Francis  dashed  up  as  he  fell,  and  at  the  risk  of 
his  life  caught  his  horse's  bridle,  but  the  shot  had  done  its 
work  and  the  boy  was  obliged  to  abandon  the  body  till  the 
battle  was  over.  Then  the  sorrowing  brothers  bore  it  home 
and  laid  it  to  rest  with  military  honours  in  the  Cathedral  of 


426     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Lismore,  sending  six  captured  standards  over  sea,  to  show 
Lady  Kinalmeaky  that  her  husband  had  not  died  in  vain. 

Requiescat  in  pace ;  we  may  forget  the  sins  and  follies  ot 
his  boyhood  in  the  memory  of  his  gallant  defence  of  Bandon 
and  his  soldier's  death  on  the  field  of  Liscarrol. 

If  Lord  Inchiquin  had  been  able  to  follow  up  his  victory, 
he  might  actually  have  brought  the  war  in  Munster  to  an  end. 
Unhappily  he  had  no  provision  for  a  campaign,  and  having 
averted  the  immediate  danger,  he  returned  his  troops  to  their 
various  garrisons  and  retired  to  his  house  at  Mallow. 

This  is  the  account  of  the  battle  preserved  in  the  Lismore 
Papers?  but  Inchiquin  indignantly  asserted  that  Dung ar van 
and  Broghill  did  him  very  great  wrong,  '  in  that  they  wrote 
letters  which  were  read  openly  in  Parliament,  wherein  they 
attributed  the  chief  merit  of  that  day's  services  to  Sir  Charles 
Vavasour.'  The  view  of  Inchiquin's  friends  was  that  he 
himself  routed  the  Irish  right  wing,  while  the  left  wing  had 
merely  retired  without  fighting,  into  the  boggy  ground  where 
Vavasour  could  not  follow  them. 

Perhaps  the  most  disastrous  effect  of  war  upon  a  country 
is  that  it  carries  away  the  strong  and  active  and  leaves  the  old 
and  helpless  to  mourn  that  they  still  drag  on  a  useless  exist- 
ence. In  this  sorrowful  summer  Lord  Cork  had  already  lost 
his  son-in-law,  Lord  Digby,  now  Kinalmeaky  had  fallen,  and  but 
three  weeks  later  the  old  man  had  to  record  the  death  of 
the  gallant  young  Irishman  who,  since  the  day  he  married 
Alice  Boyle,  had  been  to  the  Earl  as  one  of  his  own  children. 
Lord  Cork  wrote  on  September  29th  in  his  diary  : — 

*  This  morning,  being  Michaelmas  Day,  it  pleased  God  to 

1  Smith,  ii.  80  and  84.  A  much  fuller  account  is  edited  by  Mr.  T.  Buckley  in 
the  Cork  Arch.  Jottrn.  1896,  pp.  83,  100,  from  a  contemporary  tract.  It  relates  that 
Vavasour  took  the  enemies'  guns,  and  describes  the  gallant  behaviour  of  the  Boyle 
family,  but  gives  the  honours  of  the  victory  to  Lord  Inchiquin. 


AT   BAY  427 

call  to  his  mercy  out  of  this  miserable  world  my  noble  son- 
in-law  the  Earl  of  Barrymore,  who  sickened  at  his  house  of 
Castle  Lyons,  the  24th  of  this  month  and  deceased  this 
morning  there,  whereof  my  cousin  Stephen  Crowe  brought 
me  the  unwelcome  tidings,  and  by  him  I  sent  my  daughter 
£20  to  be  bestowed  in  bringing  his  body  to  Youghal  to  be 
interred  in  my  chapel,  and  provide  ^30  more  for  the  mourning 
stuff  for  his  funerals.  His  Lop.  being  interred  with  the  rites 
of  a  soldier  the  next  following,  the  Lord  of  Inchiquin  with 
very  many  others  being  present.' 

In  those  grievous  days  there  was  little  leisure  to  mourn  the 
dead,  the  living  demanded  every  thought.  Lord  Barrymore's 
fatherless  children  were  very  dear  to  the  old  Earl,  and  in  the 
ruined  country  it  was  hard  to  see  how  the  young  heir  was  to 
live,  much  less  pay  for  education.  So  the  funeral  at  Youghal 
was  hardly  over  before  Lord  Cork  had  to  take  up  his  pen  to 
petition  Ormond,  whom  the  King  had  made  Lieutenant- 
General  of  Ireland,  to  allow  young  Barrymore  to  be  the 
nominal  head  of  the  troop  of  horse  his  father  had  raised,  and 
also  to  grant  Kinalmeaky's  troop  to  his  brother  Francis. 

THE  EARL  OF  CORK  TO  THE  MARQUIS  OF  ORMOND. 

'  MY  MOST  HONOURED  LORD, — Though  it  be  late,  yet  give 
me  leave,  I  beseech  you,  to  congratulate  your  new  addition  of 
honour,  which  his  majesty  has  been  graciously  pleased  so 
deservedly  to  confer  upon  you  ;  as  also  the  restitution  of 
health,  which  God  hath  given  you  and  your  virtuous  Lady. 
And  although  these  my  expressions  are  not  presented  unto 
you  so  early  as  I  desired,  yet  I  beseech  you  believe  this  great 
truth  from  me,  that  they  proceed  from  an  honest  heart,  that 
hath  ever  honoured  and  loved  yourself  and  the  noble  family, 
from  which  you  are  descended  ;  and  if  ever  my  posterity  shall 


428     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

fail  in  their  service  and  respects  to  you  and  yours,  I  will  not 
own,  but  disclaim  them  as  none  of  mine.  My  Lord,  I  have 
lately  had  the  honour  amongst  other  your  commissions  to 
receive  two  under  your  Lordship's  hand  and  seal,  whereby  my 
slain  son  Kinalmeaky  had  by  your  favour  conferred  upon  him 
the  command  of  a  troop  of  horse  and  a  foot  company,  which 
he  raised,  armed,  and  maintained  since  the  beginning  of  this 
insurrection  in  my  new  walled  town  of  Bandonbridge,  without 
charge  or  pay  from  the  king,  parliament,  or  state,  and  did 
some  remarkable  services  in  those  parts  with  the  forces,  which 
he  had  gotten  and  kept  together  there.  And  now  I,  being  by 
the  iniquity  of  these  times  deprived  of  my  rent  and  revenue, 
am  much  impoverished  by  the  maintenance  that  I  afforded 
him,  and  find  no  comfort  by  those  your  Lordship's  commis- 
sions, which  were  not  brought  hither  until  after  my  son 
Kynalmeaky  was  killed  at  the  battle  of  Liscarryl,  where  I  had 
four  of  my  sons  in  that  service  ;  and  the  youngest  of  them  (if 
report  speak  truth)  carried  himself  with  undaunted  resolution 
and  did  narrowly  endanger  his  life,  in  recovering  his  dead 
brother's  body  and  horse,  both  which  he  brought  from  the 
rebels,  and  hath  ever  since  kept  both  troop  and  foot  company 
together,  in  hope  (his  brother  being  thus  killed  in  this  service) 
that  he  shall  be  graced  with  the  command  of  them.  My 
humble  suit  unto  your  Lordship  now  is,  that  you  will  be 
favourably  pleased,  seeing  God  hath  so  appointed  it,  that  the 
town  of  Bandonbridge  (where  his  troop  and  company  are 
garrisoned)  is  by  my  said  son's  death  now  descended  to  his 
brother  Dungarvan,  that  your  Lordship  will  now  also  confer 
upon  him  the  foot  company,  and  the  troop  of  horse  on  his  brother 
Francis,  it  being  no  other  than  the  performance  of  that  favour, 
which  you  were  pleased  to  confer  upon  their  deceased  brother ; 
,  and  the  altering  of  it  from  his  name  that  is  dead  to  them  two 


AT   BAY  429 

that  are  living,  whereby  you  shall  oblige  us  all  three  that 
survive  to  a  most  thankful  acknowledgement  of  this  your 
goodness  ;  which  favour  if  you  shall  vouchsafe  them,  then  it 
is  my  further  desire,  that  the  commissions  may  be  renewed 
and  returned  by  this  express  messenger. 

*  It  pleased  God  on  Michaelmas  day  last  to  call  to  his 
mercy  my  noble  son-in-law,  the  Earl  of  Barrimore,  who  was 
your  great  servant.  He  hath  left  a  distressed  wife  and  four 
children,  with  an  encumbered  and  disjointed  estate,  all  his 
country  and  livelihood  being  little  better  than  wasted.  He 
had  no  other  entertainment  from  his  majesty  than  a  troop  of 
horse,  which  he  raised,  horsed,  and  armed,  at  his  own  charge. 
His  son,  the  young  Earl,  is  a  very  hopeful  and  proper  youth, 
not  yet  full  fourteen  years  of  age  ;  yet  in  his  disposition  very 
forward  :  and  if  your  Lordship  will  be  graciously  pleased,  for 
the  better  upholding  of  such  an  ancient  and  honourable  house, 
and  the  better  maintenance  of  the  young  Lord  during  these 
times  of  trouble,  to  confer  upon  him  the  troop  of  horse  which 
his  father  had,  and  send  him  your  commission  to  command 
them,  I  do  undertake  to  your  Lordship,  that  they  shall  be 
governed  by  such  able  and  sufficient  officers,  as  shall  keep 
them  in  strength  and  good  order,  and  perform  all  duties  that 
can  be  expected  from  them.  And  this  in  your  Lordship  will 
be  an  act  of  great  honour,  and  speak  loud  in  your  Lordship's 
just  commendations,  and  thereby  perpetually  oblige  him  and 
all  his  friends  to  be  your  most  thankful  servants.  Which 
recommending  to  your  Lordship's  honourable  consideration, 
I  pray  for  your  Lordship's  health  and  prosperity,  and,  as  I  am, 
will  ever  remain, — My  Lord,  your  Lordship's  most  humble 
and  affectionate  servant,  R.  CORKE. 

«  YOGHALL,  Oct.  7,  1642. 

'  To  the  most  honourable  the  Lord  Marquis  of  Ormonde, 


430     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

lieutenant  general  of  his  majesty's  forces  in  this  kingdom, 
at  Dublin,  these  present.' 1 

The  death  of  Lord  Barrymore  left  Lord  Inchiquin  practi- 
cally the  Governor  of  Munster.  He  is  hardly  likely  to  have 
echoed  the  desires  of  the  Lords  Justices  that  the  Earl  of  Cork 
might  find  himself  equal  to  assisting  the  government  with  his 
advice,  for  although  the  two  great  men  were  still  on  formal 
terms  of  friendship,  the  old  Earl  had  not  grown  less  outspoken 
with  increasing  years,  and  his  remarks  and  criticisms  might 
soon  grow  too  sharp  for  the  proud  O'Brien  to  stomach.  It 
was  indeed  now  only  too  possible  that  the  government  of 
Munster  would  be  paralysed  by  an  open  quarrel  between  its 
two  greatest  nobles. 

Lord  Justice  Parsons  was  so  anxious  over  the  state  of 
things  that  he  sent  Lord  Cork  a  letter  by  Joshua  Boyle, 
imploring  him  in  a  maundering  helpless  sort  of  way  to  make 
the  best  of  things  and  bear  Inchiquin's  provocations  with 
pious  resignation. 

Lord  Cork  was  not  the  man  to  follow  counsels  of  patience 
when  the  fate  of  the  kingdom  was  at  stake,  and  paying  no 
attention  to  the  Lord  Justice,  he  sent  off  his  two  eldest  sons 
post-haste  into  England,  to  beg  the  King  to  appoint  Lord 
Dungarvan  Lord  President  of  Munster. 

Nothing  could  have  been  more  natural  than  that  Lord 
Dungarvan  should  at  the  least  succeed  his  brother-in-law, 
Lord  Barrymore,  as  Inchiquin's  coadjutor,  and  Lord  Cork 
urged  him  'leave  no  friend  unsolicited,  no  fair  means  un- 
attempted,  that  may  effect  the  business  you  go  upon,  for  if 
you  return  without  it,  you  will  meet  with  thorns  entering 

1  Printed  in  Orrery's  State  Letters,  i.  16-18. 


AT   BAY  431 

your  sides  and  be  subject  to  such  affront  as  your  spirit  will 
not  digest.' 

But  the  Boyles  petitioned  in  vain,  and  their  charming 
wives  sailed  for  England  and  canvassed  their  court  friends 
with  no  result.  The  King  bestowed  the  title  of  Lord 
President  upon  their  Weston  kinsman,  the  Roman  Catholic 
Earl  of  Portland,  but  the  empty  title  was  all  that  his  Majesty 
had  power  to  give,  and  the  appointment  remained  a  mere 
dead  letter  :  while  the  Parliament  which  now  openly  used  its 
authority  in  rivalry  with  the  King,  nominated  Lord  Lisle,  the 
son  of  the  absentee  Lord  Lieutenant  Leicester.  Lisle  had 
been  acting  as  Lieutenant-General  under  Ormond,  and  in  so 
far  was  better  than  Portland  that  he  went  to  Munster,  but  he 
had  no  influence  there,  and  soon  vanished  in  the  increasing 
welter  of  confusion  where  every  man  had  to  take  care  of 
himself,  and  hardly  knew  whom  to  call  his  friends  or  even 
to  which  nominal  party  he  himself  belonged. 

The  Justices,  seeing  that  neither  King  nor  Parliament 
were  able  to  provide  for  the  governing  of  Munster,  for  once 
bestirred  themselves  and  appointed  Lord  Broghill  and  Captain 
Jephson  Commissioners  to  assist  Lord  Inchiquin  in  his  duties, 
Inchiquin  still  holding  the  King's  commission  as  chief  com- 
mander of  the  army.1 

Lord  Cork  also  urged  Dungarvan  when  he  was  in  England 
to  do  all  in  his  power  to  secure  his  '  brother  Francis  a  troop 
of  horse,  for  he  is  grown  a  very  civil  proper  young  gent,  full 
of  spirit  and  good  hopes,  and  to  have  the  like  care  to  get 
your  sister  Barrymore  the  wardship  of  the  young  lord,  who 
now  hath  the  command  of  the  troop  of  horse2  that  his  father 

1  Smith,  ii.  81. 

2  The  Original  Commission  appointing  Lord  Barrymore  is  in  the  possession  of 
H.  Townshend,  Esq.  of  Seafield,  County  Cork. 


43*     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

had,  notwithstanding  the  endeavours  of  your  Uncle  Fenton  and 
Sir  Hardress  Waller,  who  should  not  have  sought  it  from  him.' 

When  Lady  Dungarvan  and  Lady  Broghill  crossed  to 
England  they  had  travelled  with  one  of  the  Munster  com- 
manders, Captain  Thornhill.  He  was  a  rich  man  and  had  a 
wife  in  England,  and  probably  was  heartily  tired  of  the 
wretched  guerilla  warfare  in  Munster,  so  after  his  three 
months'  leave  was  up,  he  decided  not  to  return  to  Ireland, 
and  Lord  Cork  gained  his  desire  and  saw  Francis  appointed  to 
succeed  to  Thornhill's  company  of  four  hundred  foot. 

When  the  Earl  gave  his  parting  gifts  to  the  ladies  he  gave 
also  to  '  my  daughter  Broghill  in  gold,  five  pounds  to  buy  a 
ring  beset  around  with  diamonds,  to  be  by  her  presented  from 
me  to  Mrs.  Anne  Howard.'  It  is  pathetic  to  see  the  old  man 
turning  from  the  cares  of  the  government  and  the  anxieties  of 
the  war,  to  send  a  token  to  the  little  lady  he  hoped  one  day 
to  see  the  bride  of  his  Robin.  Robin,  indeed,  was  never  long 
out  of  his  father's  thoughts,  and  with  all  the  need  of  horses 
for  his  Munster  troopers,  one  very  choice  dun  mare  was  sent 
to  Lismore,  to  be  kept  and  dressed  with  care  in  readiness  for 
the  Earl's  youngest  son,  '  when  it  shall  please  God  to  send 
him  home  from  his  foreign  travels.' 

When  Lady  Dungarvan  and  Lady  Broghill  arrived  in 
England  they  must  have  found  most  of  their  Munster  friends 
settled  there,  ready  to  welcome  them.  The  progress  of  the 
English  civil  war  seems  not  to  have  prevented  people  from 
living  very  comfortably  in  London,  whatever  were  their 
political  opinions.  Even  when  the  advent  of  the  King's  forces 
threatened  to  bring  war  to  the  city  gates,  the  alarm  only  called 
out  Milton's  half-jesting  appeal  to  '  Captain  or  Colonel  or 
Knight  in  Arms/  and  Sir  John  Leeke  described  the  raising  of 
fortifications  as  something  of  a  city  holiday. 


AT   BAY  433 

Good  Sir  John's  letters,  full  of  public  news,  must  have 
been  a  godsend  to  the  weary  defenders  of  Youghal,  but  this 
April  he  had  to  send  tidings  of  nearer  matters,  and  tell  the 
old  Earl  that  yet  another  of  his  children  had  left  the  world 
before  him,  and  poor  Lettice  Goring  had 

4  passed 
To  where  beyond  these  voices  there  is  peace/ 

It  is  to  be  hoped  that  his  remarks  about  the  devil  do  not 
point  to  old  Lady  Goring,  for  although  Lettice  had  no  great 
love  for  her  mother-in-law,  Lord  Cork  called  her  a  very 
prophetess  ! 

f  I  wrote  to  your  honour,'  says  Sir  John,  '  that  your 
daughter  Lettice  could  not  subsist  many  days,  for  she  was  not 
able  to  endure  being  brought  hither  in  a  chair,  for  indeed  she 
went  to  God  the  day  following,  whither  the  old  devil  that 
now  kennels  in  White-hall  will  never  come.  The  mother  and 
aunt,  they  are  jolly.' 1 

Of  one  member  of  the  Boyle  family  Sir  John  could  send 
no  news,  for  Lady  Kinalmeaky  was  away  in  Holland  in  faithful 
attendance  on  her  royal  mistress.  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  also 
accompanied  the  Queen,  and  wrote  to  Lord  Cork  that  he  was 
overwhelmed  with  work  and  anxiety ;  he  had  left  Lady 
Stafford  in  England  to  save  what  she  could  from  the  general 
ruin,  but  she  could  get  no  rents  paid.  He  ends  his  letter, 
'  Your  Lordship's  daughter  Lady  Kinalmeaky  and  myself  do 
often  entertain  ourselves  with  the  consideration  of  your 
Lordship,  and  as  ever  we  have  letters  from  England  we 
compare.  She  is  richly  good.  My  Lord  Goring  is  a  constant 
comforter  to  us  in  these  misfortunes.' 

Lady  Kinalmeaky  herself  wrote   from    the    Hague,   but 

L.  P.,  ii.  5.  124. 
2  E 


434     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

appeared  too  much  agitated  over  the  loss  of  her  jewels  and 
her  need  of  money,  to  have  any  sympathy  to  spare  for  her 
relatives  holding  out  in  Munster  among  the  dangers  and 
privations  of  war.  It  is  difficult  to  believe  that  the  woman 
who  wrote  the  following  letter  to  the  old  Earl  was  anything 
but  a  hard,  selfish  lady  of  fashion  : — 

*  The  ship  where  in  almost  all  our  goods  were,  was  cast 
away,  so  that  my  mother  is  fain  to  furnish  her  and  my  self  of 
all  things  necessary.  I  make  no  question  but  that  you  will 
think  it  fit  to  contribute  something  towards  the  great  charge 
I  put  her  to.  I  as  sure  I  never  did  anything  to  deserve  not 
to  be  kept  by  you.  I  desire  not  so  much  as  may  make  you 
think  me  prodigal.  The  loss  of  my  rich  clothes  has  made  me 
resolve  never  to  have  more.  I  have  reserved  those  few  jewels 
I  had  except  a  diamond  fan  handle.  The  news  from  England 
is  so  bad  that  I  believe  it  will  fly  further  than  Ireland  quickly. 
God  prevent  the  ill  that  seems  to  threaten  it.  I  hope  I  shall 
be  so  happy  as  to  see  you  one  way  or  another  within  a  short 
time.  Till  which  time,  and  ever,  you  shall  find  me  as  much 
as  can  possibly  be,  your  Lordship's  most  humble  servant  and 
obedient  daughter,  KINALMEAKY. 

'  I  pray  you  present  my  services  to  my  brother  Dungarvan 
and  all  the  rest  of  my  friends.' l 

Although  Lady  Kinalmeaky  had  no  sympathy  to  spare,  the 
story  of  endurance  and  privation  in  Youghal  would  have 
moved  most  hearts.  The  old  Earl  writes  sadly  to  Lord 
Dungarvan  of  his  garrison,  that  fifteen  companies  were  mostly 
dieted  on  salt  beef,  barrelled  biscuits  and  butter,  with  water 
to  drink,  '  which  make  a  rich  churchyard  and  weak  garrison, 
insomuch  it  grieves  my  heart  to  see  this  great  mortality  of 

i  L.  P.,  ii.  s.  *7. 


AT  BAY  435 

such,    as,  if  they  were   cherished,   might   do    the    King    and 
country  good  service.' * 

Yet  in  spite  of  sickness  and  privation,  the  round  of  life 
went  on  with  hardly  a  change,  and  when  Christmas  came  the 
Earl  kept  it  to  the  best  of  his  ability,  though  his  lists  of 
presents  got  sadly  jumbled  up  with  bills  for  ammunition  and  the 
weight  of  the  new  iron  gates  made  for  Lismore  Castle.  Dean 
Naylor  wrote  from  Lismore,  explaining  that  the  Christmas 
rents  of  the  tenants  were  in  arrears,  because  the  Irish  had 
lately  raided  the  Blackwater  valley,  and  carried  off  the  cattle  ; 
but  raids  and  incursions  are  all  entered  by  the  old  Earl  in  his 
diary  with  the  same  unmoved  regularity  as  he  chronicles  the 
number  of  old  suits  of  clothes  he  gave  away,  or  the  birth  of  a 
son  to  Sir  Percy  Smyth.  The  coachman  from  Castle  Lyons 
carried  the  Earl's  Christmas  presents  to  the  orphaned  Barry 
children,  a  gold  piece  each  for  the  young  Earl  and  Lady 
Ellen,  and  ten  shillings  each  for  James  and  Lady  Kate.  To 
the  officers  of  the  garrison  of  Youghal  were  given  clothes 
from  the  Earl's  wardrobe,  laced  with  silver  or  adorned  with 
'  silver  great  buttons,'  and  Sir  Charles  Vavasour  was  sent  a 
bottle  of  rosemary  water,  and  two  barrels  of  oats  for  his 
horses. 

The  war  had  by  this  time  dwindled  to  a  sort  of  miserable 
sea-saw  of  raids  and  counter-raids,  to  which  there  seemed  no 
prospect  of  any  end,  unless  either  party  exterminated  the 
other,  and  at  last  Inchiquin  declared  to  Cork  that  he  expected 
shortly  to  be  driven  to  put  what  victuals  he  could  get  together 
into  his  soldiers'  knapsacks  and  march  away,  leaving  the 
province  to  the  mercy  of  the  rebels.  On  the  5th  of  May  he 
wrote  to  the  Earl : 

'  Our  present  condition  falls  out  now  to  be  more  miserably 

1  Smith,  ii.  85. 


436     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

desperate  than  ever,  in  regard  we  have  no  manner  of  help  or 
relief  amongst  ourselves  and  the  provisions  we  depended  on 
out  of  England  doth  fail  us,  which  will  put  us  to  a  desperate 
extremity,  here  being  nothing  to  deliver  forth  [in  this  store] 
on  the  next  pay  day.  I  request  your  Lordship  to  lend  or 
borrow  £300  for  victualling  those  in  Youghal.  To-morrow 
with  a  heavy  heart  I  shall  march  forth  to  linger  out  a  few 
days  in  the  field,  where  I  am  not  likely  to  continue  so  long  as 
to  enterprise  anything  of  advantage,  for  want  of  provisions 
for  the  men  and  money  for  the  officers.' 

In  June  Francis  Boyle  had  the  support  of  Sir  Charles 
Vavasour  in  a  new  expedition  into  Condon's  country.  They 
carried  artillery  with  them,  and  by  its  help,  and  using  poor 
Kinalmeaky's  device  of  a  sow  to  shelter  their  miners,  they 
took  the  strong  castle  of  Cloghleigh,  and  put  all  the  garrison 
to  the  sword,  ' for  which  good  achievement,'  wrote  Lord  Cork, 
*  God  make  us  all  thankful.' 

But  this  success  was  short-lived.  An  overwhelming  body 
of  Irish,  four  thousand  foot  and  five  hundred  horse,  pursued 
Vavasour's  little  party,  and  fell  on  them  the  following  day, 
when  they  were  fording  the  Blackwater.  The  English 
artillery  was  still  on  one  side  of  the  river,  while  most  of  the 
troops  had  already  crossed  and  were  involved  in  a  narrow 
lane.  The  Irish  had  them  at  their  mercy  and  almost  swept 
this,  the  last  army  of  Munster,  out  of  existence. 

Lord  Cork's  diary  gives  a  melancholy  list  of  killed  and 
wounded  officers  ;  the  iron  gun,  brass  '  basilisque,'  all  the 
wagons  and  carriages,  and  seven  colours  taken,  and  worst  of 
all,  the  Colonel,  noble  Sir  Charles  Vavasour,  was  a  prisoner. 
'  God  in  his  mercy  turn  his  heavy  hand  from  us,'  concludes 
the  Earl. 

Emboldened    by    this    success,    the    Irish    advanced    on 


AT   BAY  437 

Cappoquin,  where  fortunately,  at  the  entreaty  of  Lord 
Barrymore,  Inchiquin  had  left  Captain  Croker's  regiment  as 
garrison. 

Inchiquin  wrote  to  Lord  Cork  that  if  he  could  but  fit  out 
an  expedition  he  did  not  doubt  but  he  should  easily  raise 
the  siege  ;  so  Lord  Cork  set  to  work,  and  among  his  friends 
gathered  up  and  borrowed  .£1000,  Inchiquin  himself  con- 
tributing, and  Lord  Cork  gave  bonds  charging  the  repayment 
on  the  Parliament  and  Kingdom  of  England. 

But  the  Irish  general  Purcell  did  not  wait  for  Lord 
Inchiquin  at  Cappoquin,  for  when  he  found  the  town  too 
strong  to  be  taken  by  assault,  he  turned  his  attention  to 
Lord  Cork's  own  house,  and  marched  on  Lismore. 

The  defences  there  had  lately  been  strengthened  by  iron 
grates  and  chains,  made  at  Lord  Cork's  iron  works,  '  for  the 
garden  door  and  the  terrace  of  the  turret,'  and  in  the  winter 
a  great  iron  '  outgate '  weighing  nearly  two  tons  had  also  been 
finished  and  hung  up.  It  was  ready,  therefore,  to  make  a 
stout  resistance,  and  Lord  Cork  described  proudly  how  the 
enemy  attacked  one  side  of  the  castle  after  another,  and  were 
driven  back  in  turn  from  each. 

'  On  the  23 rd  of  July  began  their  battery  from  the  church 
to  the  east  of  Lismore  house  and  made  a  breach  into  my  Brew 
House,  which  Capt.  Brodripp  and  my  warders,  being  about 
150,  repaired  stronger  with  earth  than  it  was  before,  and  they 
shot  there  till  Thursday  2yth,  and  never  durst  attempt  to 
enter  the  breach,  my  musket  shot  and  ordinance  from  the 
castle  did  so  apply  them.  Then  they  removed  their  battery 
to  the  south  west  of  my  castle  and  continued  beating  against 
my  orchard  wall,  but  never  adventured  into  my  orchard,  my 
shot  from  my  turrets  did  so  continually  beat  and  clear  the 
curtain  of  the  wall.  The  28th  of  July  God  sent  my  2  sons 


438     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Dungarvan  and  Broghill  to  land  at  Youghall  out  of  England, 
and  the  29th  they  rode  to  the  Lord  of  Inchiquin,  who  with 
our  army  was  drawn  to  Tallagh,  and  did  stand  there  in 
expectation  of  Col.  Myn  with  his  regiment  from  Timoleague, 
who  failed  to  come.' 

Then  comes  a  rather  confused  entry,  which  is  hard  to 
follow  on  the  tattered  paper,  but  it  appears  that  Dungarvan 
had  brought  over  letters  from  his  Majesty  recommending  that 
a  treaty  should  be  made  with  the  enemy,  and  a  six  days' 
cessation  of  hostilities  was  therefore  concluded  with  Lord 
Muskerry.  Before  the  expiry  of  this  truce  the  Irish  con- 
cluded that  Lismore  was  too  hard  a  nut  for  them  to  crack, 
and  removed  their  ordnance  and  scaling-ladders,  and  with- 
drew, leaving  two  hundred  and  one  of  their  men  dead  behind 
them,  while  but  one  of  the  garrison  had  been  killed.  Lord 
Cork  sent  as  reward  to  Captain  Brodrip  for  his  eight  days' 
resistance,  five  pounds  in  money  and  '  a  cloak  of  mine  of 
black  Waterford  frieze  lined  throughout  with  black  Tuftaffety, 
with  a  riding  coat,  doublet  and  breeches  suitable.' 

With  the  record  that  his  well-loved  home  at  Lismore  was 
safe,  the  diary  that  the  old  Earl  had  kept  for  more  than  thirty 
years  comes  to  an  abrupt  close  ;  *  the  rest  is  silence.' 

It  is  possible  that  age  and  infirmity  pressed  too  heavily 
upon  him  to  allow  him  to  sit  to  his  desk  and  chronicle  the 
events  of  the  war;  but  long  years  before,  when  all  thought 
him  at  the  point  of  death,  the  Earl's  indomitable  spirit  had 
nerved  his  palsied  hand  to  write  out  the  items  of  *  the  large 
revenue  with  which  God  had  blessed  him ' :  that  spirit  one 
would  think  would  never  have  let  him  lay  down  his  pen  while 
life  lasted.  No  ;  the  empty  pages  that  follow  tell  their  story 
plain  enough  for  those  to  read  who  understand  the  old  man's 
temper  ;  never  had  the  Earl  allowed  his  journal  to  hold  a 


AT  BAY  439 

complaint  against  his  royal  master ;  now  when  his  sons 
brought  a  word  from  the  King  which  spoke  the  doom  of  all 
patriotism  and  loyalty  in  Munster,  the  old  man  made  no 
comment,  but  closed  his  book  for  ever.  There  are  those 
who,  when  shame  and  horror  overtake  them,  can  ease  their 
breasts  by  lamentations  or  protest ;  the  Earl  of  Cork  took  this 
last  blow  in  silence,  and  when  men  take  it  that  way — they  die. 

The  truce  with  the  Irish,  of  which  Dungarvan  and  Brog- 
hill  brought  the  news,  was  no  mere  breathing-time  snatched 
in  order  to  allow  of  the  war  being  afterwards  renewed  with 
fresh  vigour.  It  was  a  cessation  of  hostilities,  sought  by  the 
King  in  order  that  he  might  negotiate  with  his  rebellious 
subjects  as  though  they  were  an  independent  power,  a  truce 
during  which  his  Munster  soldiers  were  to  speak  words  of 
peace  to  men  whose  hands  were  yet  red  with  the  blood  of 
English  women  and  children. 

Nowadays  we  are  tolerant,  with  the  tolerance  born  of 
indifference,  and  can  smile  at  the  blind  Protestant  zealots 
who  ignored  their  own  cruelties,  and  only  saw  those  of  their 
antagonists.  We  can  take  broad  views  of  politics,  and  blame 
the  dogged  Munster  obstinacy  that  persisted  in  carrying  on  a 
hopeless  warfare.  Even  Ormond,  in  Dublin,  could  see  further 
than  the  desperate  garrisons  of  the  south.  It  was  clear  to  him, 
that  so  far  from  the  King  having  forces  to  spare  for  Ireland,  he 
needed  all  he  could  gather  for  a  far  more  vital  issue,  and  it  was 
suicidal  for  Protestants  and  Catholics  to  waste  their  energies 
in  a  fruitless  struggle  when  both  might  be  doing  him  good 
service  in  England.  The  English  Roman  Catholics  had  rallied 
to  the  royal  standard,  and  to  many  of  the  King's  advisers  it 
seemed  unreasonable  that  mere  religious  differences  should  keep 
the  Irish  gentry  out  of  his  Majesty's  army,  especially  as  they 
had  never  ceased  to  protest  their  personal  loyalty  to  him. 


44o     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF  CORK 

The  King  therefore  found  it  convenient  to  remember  that 
the  Irish  really  had  some  causes  of  complaint,  and  that  the 
graces  were  even  yet  unratified,  and  it  struck  him  as  politic  to 
take  this  opportunity  to  renew  his  promises,  and  express  him- 
self ready  to  summon  an  Irish  Parliament  to  consider  the 
public  grievances. 

To  our  cooler  judgment  the  scheme  may  appear  astute 
enough,  but  like  most  devices  for  the  benefit  of  Ireland,  it 
was  invented  too  late.  If  the  King  had  so  asserted  himself 
two  years  earlier,  he  might  have  solved  the  problem,  but  those 
two  years  had  heaped  up  horrible  memories,  and  to  the 
Munster  Protestants  the  thought  of  such  a  treaty  had  become 
as  abhorrent  as  it  would  have  been  to  John  Nicholson  to  take 
the  hand  of  Nana  Sahib. 

When  at  the  Redshard  pass  the  insurgent  Irish  declared 
that  they  had  taken  arms  under  royal  warrant,  the  Munster 
gentlemen  indignantly  repudiated  the  parchment  flaunted 
before  them  as  a  commission  from  the  King.  Now  these 
Munster  gentlemen  received  an  undoubted  message  from  his 
Majesty,  desiring  them  to  accept  an  almost  identical  agree- 
ment, while  the  Irish,  with  whom  they  had  then  refused  to 
treat,  had  spent  the  intermediate  year  in  slaughter  and 
devastation,  and  instead  of  merely  saying  they  were  under 
arms  to  support  their  ancient  liberties  and  the  royal  pre- 
rogative, now  boasted  that  they  were  embarked  in  a  war  of 
religion  blessed  by  the  Pope  himself.  The  Earl  of  Cork  had 
endured  the  loss  of  his  children,  of  his  wealth,  of  all  that 
made  life  pleasant  to  him,  and,  wonted  to  adversity,  he  had 
still  held  on  his  way,  but  the  report  of  this  treaty,  f  fatal  to 
liberty,'  fatal  to  the  pride,  and  even  the  self-respect,  of  a 
ruler  of  Ireland,  struck  his  death-blow. 

In  Ireland,  more  surely  than  in  any  other  land,  the  paths 


AT   BAY  441 

of  glory  lead  but  to  the  grave.  In  the  days  that  had  passed 
since  that  memorable  midsummer  eve  when  Richard  Boyle 
first  landed  in  Dublin,  he  had  seen  many  a  valiant  spirit  pass 
away,  sick  with  the  defeats  of  life,  and  many  a  comrade  laid 
broken-hearted  under  the  Irish  sod.  Now  his  own  name  was 
to  be  added  to  the  sorrowful  roll.  When  he  learned  the  will 
of  the  King  he  said  no  word  ;  he  turned  his  face  to  the  wall, 
and  died.1 

The  great  Earl  did  not  die  alone  ;  with  him  passed  away 
the  old  order,  the  Elizabethan  age  in  Munster,  and  the  old 
glorious  days  when  a  man  would  dare  the  impossible,  confi- 
dent in  himself,  in  England,  and  in  his  God. 

He  lies  under  the  tomb  he  set  up  in  the  Chantry  at 
Youghal.  Above  it  is  carved  and  painted  his  effigy,  guarding, 
even  in  death,  the  purse  of  the  Irish  Treasury  intrusted  to 
him  by  the  King.  And  written  on  the  monument  is  the 
epitaph  he  devised  for  himself  during  those  last  desperate 
days  of  the  war,  recounting  with  sober  pride  the  good  deeds 
he  had  done  for  the  Commonwealth,  and  praying  Christ's 
mercy  for  what  he  had  left  undone. 

'  RICHARDVS  BOYLE  miles,  DOMINVS  BOYLE,  Baro  de 
Yoghall,  Vicecomes  Dungarvan,  Comes  Corcagensis,  Dominvs 
svmmvs  hvivs  regni  Hiberniae,  thesavrarivs,  &  de  private 
concilio  dni  regis  tam  Angliae  qvam  Hiberniae,  ex  antiqvissima 
Boylorum  familia  Herefordiensi  orivndvs,  qvi  patrem  habvit 
ROGERVM  BOYLE  armigervm,  matrem  itidem  generosam  IONAM 
NAYLERAM  e  solo  Cantiano  profectam,  cvm  dvas  sibi  invicem 
ivnxisset  vxores,  primam  IOANAM  filiam  &  cohoeredem 
GVLIELMI  APPSLEY  armigeri  nvlla  svperstite  prole,  alteram 
proeclare  foecvndam,  CATHARINAM  natam  DOMINI  GALFRIDA 
FENTONI  eqvitis,  regiae  maiestati  in  hoc  regno  a  secretis  ; 

1  Borlaise,  Red.  Ire.,  p.  209. 


442     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

postqvam  varies  pro  repvblica  cepisset  labores,  nee  immeritos 
honores  conscendisset,  ipse  iam  septvaginta  septem  annos 
natvs,  ac  mortem  indies  imminentem  expectans  sibi  &  posteris 
svis  hoc  posvit  monvmentvm  sacrvm  memoriae.' 

'  Ipse  de  Se 

Sic  posvi  tvmvlvm,  svperest  intendere  votis, 
Parce  animas,  carnem  solvito,  CHRISTE  !  veni/ 


,  /he  tirrrur  of- rsloa&r- ^(fouLes  of-  J'r 

/     .x*  y  •         •  x ^«"  *s      ^-     /'>-/    > 

n tut  <'/  //  f,l  rs'r/<  /''I'"  /if''f'f 

<  ,r/  f/ V'/  (>t>r/,-,tr/  ,  '/ir  t  •<• /',i/t<t 


CHAPTER    XXIV 
RESTORATION 

'Anon  repairs  his  drooping  head, 
And  tricks  his  beams,  and  with  new-spangled  ore, 
Flames  in  the  forehead  of  the  morning  sky.' 

LYCIDAS. 

THE  death  of  the  great  Earl  dissolved  the  last  link  that  held 
the  Munster  English  in  nominal  unity,  and  quarrels  and 
intrigues,  mutual  distrust  and  mutual  accusations  distracted  the 
forces  that  should  have  held  the  province  against  the  Irish. 

The  cessation  of  hostilities  that  had  broken  the  old  Earl's 
heart  held  good  but  for  a  moment.  Inchiquin  soon  recom- 
menced the  war.  In  pique  with  the  King,  he  definitely 
declared  himself  in  favour  of  the  Parliamentary  party  in 
England,  and  received  from  it  the  title  of  President  of 
Munster,  but  he  fought  very  much  for  his  own  hand,  and 
kept  his  army  together  as  best  he  could. 

Broghill  and  the  principal  Munster  gentry  sent  over  a 
petition  imploring  the  King  to  disavow  the  Irish,  and  mean- 
time continued  to  serve  under  Inchiquin,  asserting  they  were 
soldiers  of  the  Government  of  England,  not  of  any  English 
party.  Dungarvan,  now  the  second  Earl  of  Cork,  was  careful 
to  make  it  understood  that  he  took  no  part  in  the  civil  war  in 
England,  nor  ever  held  any  command  '  except  against  the 
Irish  rebels,  by  commission  from  the  King  and  Parliament.' l 

The  negotiations    between  Ormond  and  the  confederate 

1  Lady  Cork  to  Cromwell,  Nicholls's  Milton  Papers. 


443 


444     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Irish  were  never  absolutely  broken  off,  although  they  never 
came  to  any  complete  agreement.  But  the  knowledge  that 
Ormond  was  treating  in  the  King's  name  with  the  enemy 
alienated  the  Munster  officers  more  and  more  from  the  Royal 
cause,  and  the  Munster  army,  ragged  and  half-starved, 
wavered  miserably  between  King  and  Parliament,  growing 
daily  more  hopeless  of  finding  any  support,  or  even  any 
honesty,  in  either  party  in  England.  But  when  news  reached 
Ireland  of  the  King's  execution,  all  parties  there  forgot  their 
differences  in  horror  of  the  deed,  and  leagued  themselves 
together  against  the  audacious  new  rulers  of  England.  Brog- 
hill  at  once  announced  that  he  must  go  to  Spa  for  his 
gout,  secretly  intending  to  beat  up  reinforcements  on  the 
Continent  to  renew  the  Munster  war  in  the  name  of  Charles 
the  Second. 

But  when  passing  through  London  he  was  startled  by 
receiving  a  message  from  Cromwell  asking  for  a  private  inter- 
view, and  he  was  still  more  startled  to  hear,  when  the  General 
appeared,  that  his  schemes  for  raising  foreign  troops  were 
already  well  known  to  the  English  government.  After 
attempting,  rather  lamely,  to  deny  the  whole  matter,  denials 
which  Cromwell  quietly  put  aside,  Broghill,  with  his  usual 
delightful  audacity,  admitted  his  whole  intentions,  and  begged 
Cromwell  to  advise  him  what  he  had  better  do. 

Cromwell,  who  knew  very  well  what  a  valuable  adherent 
Broghill  would  be  to  his  side,  at  once  offered  him  a  General's 
command  in  Ireland,  with  the  promise  that  he  should  be 
asked  to  take  no  incriminating  oath,  nor  to  fight  against  any 
but  the  Irish  rebels.  Broghill,  it  is  said,  hesitated  whether  to 
accept  this  rather  sudden  proposal,  but  the  brilliant  young 
fellow  was  in  the  hands  of  a  stronger  man  than  himself,  and 
Cromwell  clinched  the  offer  by  telling  him  there  was  no  time 


RESTORATION  445 

for  consideration,  as  the  Council  had  resolved  to  clap  his 
lordship  immediately  into  the  Tower,  and  was  now  only 
awaiting  the  General's  return  to  send  out  officers  with  a 
warrant  of  arrest. 

Naturally  Broghill's  scruples,  if  he  had  any,  were  settled 
by  this  information,  and  the  friendship  so  strangely  begun 
between  these  two  remarkable  men  lasted  till  Cromwell's 
death.  It  is  too  long  to  tell  here  of  Broghill's  varied  career, 
and  how  his  silver  tongue  won  over  the  Munster  army  to 
Cromwell's  side,  and  afterwards  charmed  the  stern  Presby- 
terians of  Edinburgh  into  a  half  satisfaction  with  the 
Protectorate  government. 

Meantime,  Ireland  having  been  thoroughly  and  remorse- 
lessly conquered  by  Cromwell,  was  beginning  to  revive  into 
some  sort  of  prosperity  under  the  admirable  governorship  of 
his  son  Henry. 

The  diary  which  the  second  Earl  of  Cork  kept,  in  dutiful 
imitation  of  his  father's  habits,  tells  how  he  went  a-hunting 
with  Lord  Henry  Cromwell  on  the  i5th  of  November  1656, 
'  and  at  my  return  did  dine  with  him  and  spent  most  part  of 
the  afternoon  with  him.  That  day  his  horse  fell  upon  hirr^ 
and  he  was  saved  from  being  dragged,  his  foot  hanging  in  the 
stirrup,  by  my  catching  hold  of  the  bridle.' 

It  was  before  the  war  was  really  at  an  end  that  the 
Munster  gentlemen  began  their  hunting-parties,  and  some- 
times ended  by  being  the  quarry  themselves.  In  1653  Lord 
Cork  writes  in  September  that  he  met  '  Capt.  Maynard  near 
the  shore  a  stag  hunting.  The  stag  did  run  towards  Castle 
Lyons.  I  was  told  afterwards  that  there  were  Torys  who 
did  lie  in  wait  for  me,  who  the  next  day  in  those  woods  did 
kill  Ancient  [sergeant]  Leech  and  took  young  Mr.  Gerard 
as  they  were  a  hunting.  God  make  me  thankful  for  this 


446     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

preservation.'  Another  time,  when  hunting  the  wolf  upon 
the  mountains,  he  mentions  meeting  with  his  cousin,  Sir  Percy 
Smyth,  *  who  desired  me  to  be  reconciled  with  him,  which  I 
consented  unto,  upon  his  promise  of  injuring  me  no  more  as 
he  had  in  this  last  business.' 

The  diary  tells  of  a  kindly,  prosperous,  ordinary  sort  of 
life ;  of  money  given  to  old  Lady  Muskerry  and  '  Mrs.  Mac- 
Carthy  Reagh,'  who  were  in  great  want ;  of  meetings  with 
Broghill  and  their  young  nephew  Barrymore  ;  and  records  on 
July  3,  1654,  the  satisfactory  information,  'This  day  my  wife 
and  I  have  been  married  twenty  years,  and  I  praise  God  for  it, 
have  lived  as  happily  one  with  the  other  as  any  two  I  think 
ever  did.' 

Poor  Katherine  Jones  had  a  different  tale  of  family  life  to 
tell :  but  fortunately  her  husband,  who  soon  became  Lord 
Ranelagh  by  succession  to  his  father,  seems  to  have  spent 
most  of  his  time  in  Ireland,  leaving  her  peacefully  in  London, 
and  he  had  the  discretion  to  die  while  still  in  middle  life, 
allowing  Katherine  to  have  a  happy  twenty  years  of  widow- 
hood, adored  by  her  brothers,  and  surrounded  by  a  circle  of 
the  most  religious  and  most  intellectual  persons  of  her  time. 
She  sent  her  son  to  be  educated  by  John  Milton,  and  the  poet 
was  used  to  say  that  the  friendship  of  Lady  Ranelagh  was  of 
more  value  to  him  than  that  of  all  his  other  friends  or 
kinsfolk. 

But  it  is  strange  to  see  that  the  noblest  spirits  of  both 
English  parties  were  so  nearly  agreed  that  we  might  almost 
say  a  spiritual  commonwealth  embraced  both  the  Parlia- 
mentary army  and  the  Royal  camp.  And  so  it  befell  that 
Katherine  Ranelagh  was  not  only  the  friend  of  Milton,  but 
also  of  Lucius  Gary,  Lord  Falkland.  The  old  childish 
intimacy  between  the  Boyles  and  Carys  had  ripened  into  a 


RESTORATION  447 

friendship  that  was  worthy  of  Lady  Ranelagh  and  Lord 
Falkland,  and  doubtless  it  was  from  him  that  Katherine 
learned  so  to  combine  Milton's  lessons  of  liberty  with  the 
Elizabethan  traditions  of  her  father,  that  she  was  no  blind 
partisan,  whether  of  King  or  Parliament.  When  Falkland 
fell  at  Newbury  she  wrote  an  eloquent  letter1  to  Hyde 
entreating  him  by  the  memory  of  their  lost  friend  to  make 
yet  another  effort  to  secure  the  peace  he  died  regretting. 
With  perhaps  Irish  hopefulness,  she  believed  that  a  very 
small  concession  on  the  part  of  the  King  would  open  the  way 
for  negotiations,  and  if  he  would  but  vouchsafe  the  title  of 
Parliament  to  the  Houses  in  arms  against  him,  all  might 
yet  be  well.  It  must,  however,  be  doubted  whether  practical 
Englishmen  would  have  been  satisfied  with  words,  or  would 
have  laid  down  their  arms  in  return  for  an  empty  name. 

A  kindred  soul  soon  came  to  make  a  third  in  Katherine's 
friendship  with  Milton.  The  same  year  that  Falkland  died 
Robert  Boyle  raised  sufficient  money  by  the  sale  of  his  jewels, 
to  bring  him  back  to  England.  He  arrived  in  London  an 
absolute  stranger,  and  by  a  chance  which  he  always  ascribed 
to  the  providence  of  God,  he  found  his  sister.  One  likes 
to  fancy  the  Diodati  family,  whom  he  had  known  in  Geneva, 
directed  him  to  Milton,  and  that  the  poet  had  the  pleasure 
of  reuniting  the  brother  and  sister. 

Robert  tells  in  his  own  inimitably  naive  way  that  it  was  a 
happy  providence  that  brought  him  into  his  sister  Ranelagh's 
company,  for  had  he  not  found  her,  his  only  resource  would 
have  been  to  go  to  the  royal  army,  where,  '  in  spite  of  the 
King  and  many  worthy  persons  being  there,  the  most  part  of 
the  gentlemen  were  very  debauched.' 

Robert  remained  with  Lady  Ranelagh  for  some  months, 

1  Cl.  S.  P.,  ii.  p.  1 66. 


448     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

and  then  went  to  Stalbridge,  now  his  own  property.  He 
describes  it  as  such  a  very  hermitage  that  the  flagstones  in  the 
court  were  all  overgrown  with  grass.  However,  he  made 
himself  very  content  there  with  his  books,  endeavouring  to 
keep  out  of  sight  of  the  contest  that  shocked  his  gentle  spirit. 
'  Good  God,'  he  wrote,  '  that  reasonable  creatures,  that  call 
themselves  Christians  too,  should  delight  in  such  an  unnatural 
thing  as  war  ! '  After  he  had  got  his  money-matters  into 
order  he  went  abroad  to  repay  Mr.  Marcombes  the  money  he 
had  so  generously  advanced  to  him  in  his  necessities,  and 
afterwards  divided  his  time  between  Oxford,  Stalbridge,  and 
London,  where,  as  he  grew  older,  he  lived  more  and  more 
constantly  with  Lady  Ranelagh. 

The  learned  researches  of  Robert  Boyle  are  too  well 
known  to  need  more  than  a  passing  reference.  His  days, 
when  not  occupied  in  study,  were  passed  in  doing  acts  of 
kindness,  compounding  medicines  that  Lady  Ranelagh  dis- 
tributed, arranging  for  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  Irish, 
counselling  and  helping  his  relations.  His  life  seemed  to 
beam  with  a  sort  of  gentle  radiance  that  attracted  all  the  wise 
and  good  to  him,  and  made  him  beloved  by  many  who  were 
neither  wise  nor  good.  Charles  the  Second,  who  rather 
enjoyed  the  society  of  virtuous  people  so  long  as  they  did  not 
bore  him,  urged  Robert  to  become  Provost  of  Eton  ;  but  the 
good  philosopher  refused  to  violate  the  wishes  of  the  founder 
of  the  College  by  becoming  Provost  while  still  a  layman,  and 
preferred  not  to  take  orders,  as  he  believed  he  could  exercise 
more  influence  for  good  when  he  had  no  professional  reason 
for  a  pious  life.  He  never  married  :  he  was  used  to  say  that 
he  never  had  been  in  love,  but  his  brother  Francis  more  than 
once  wrote  teasing  him  about  his  affection  for  some  lady  who 
was  cruel  enough  to  marry  another  admirer.  This  unknown 


RESTORATION  449 

mistress  may  have  been  that  Lady  Anne  Howard  whom  the 
old  Earl  had  chosen  to  be  Robert's  bride,  and  to  whom  he 
bequeathed  '  a  silver  sistern,  ladle  and  kettle '  if  the  desired 
marriage  took  place.  But  Lady  Anne  became  Countess  of 
Carlisle,  and  we  never  hear  if  she  and  Robert  ever  even  made 
each  other's  acquaintance.  We  need,  however,  invent  no 
romance  of  disappointed  affection  to  account  for  Robert's 
remaining  unwedded.  His  affectionate  and  refined  nature  was 
naturally  revolted  by  the  brutal  mercenariness  of  fashionable 
marriages.  Possibly  he  did  not  find  the  example  of  his  sisters 
and  brother  Frank  encouraging.  '  I  have  so  seldom,'  he  said, 
'  seen  a  happy  marriage,  or  men  love  their  wives  as  they  do  their 
mistresses,  that  I  am  far  from  wondering  our  lawgivers  make 
marriage  undissolvable  to  make  it  lasting.'  He  admitted, 
nevertheless,  that  '  there  is  a  peculiar  unrivalled  sort  of  love 
which  constitutes  the  true  conjugal  affection.' 

He  could  make  his  little  jests  over  his  lot  as  an  old 
bachelor,  and  excused  himself  for  his  cold-heartedness  in  a 
charming  letter  to  his  niece,  the  young  Countess  of  Barrymore. 
'  You  have,'  he  wrote,  '  carried  away  too  many  of  the  perfec- 
tions of  your  sex  to  leave  enough  in  this  country  for  the 
redeeming  of  so  stubborn  a  heart  as  mine.' 

The  young  Earl  of  Barrymore  had  not  been  slow  in 
taking  to  himself  a  wife,  and  married  some  say  as  early 
as  1649. 

Lady  Barrymore  herself  had  married  again,  for  Ireland 
was  no  place  for  a  young  widow  with  a  half-grown  family, 
and  for  all  the  young  Earl's  commission  as  Colonel  of  Horse, 
he  was  neither  old  enough,  nor  staid  enough,  to  be  much 
support  to  his  mother.  Lady  Barrymore' s  second  husband 
was  a  cousin,  Colonel  Jack  Barry  of  Liscarrol,  an  ardent 
royalist  and  one  of  Ormond's  most  constant  and  most  witty 

2  F 


450     LIFE  OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

correspondents.  Although  Lady  Barrymore  kept  up  her 
warm  affection  for  her  brothers,  she  made  no  secret  of  her 
disagreement  with  their  submission  to  Cromwell,  and  of 
her  devotion  to  the  exiled  royal  family.  It  was  therefore 
natural,  when  young  Barrymore  happened  to  be  in  Paris,  that 
he  should  pay  his  respects  to  the  little  court  of  the  widowed 
Henrietta  Maria,  and  there  he  saw  and  loved  a  charming 
maid  of  honour,  a  kinswoman  of '  Mrs.  Betty,'  the  wife  of  his 
uncle  Francis  Boyle.  For  some  reason  or  other  his  mother 
was  exceedingly  angry  at  this  match.  She  had  no  reason  to 
like  Betty  Boyle,  and  she  may  have  feared  that  another 
Killigrew  introduced  into  the  family  would  do  no  more  credit 
to  it.  Robert  Boyle  wrote  an  exceedingly  kind  and  sensible 
letter  to  his  sister  on  this  occasion,  reminding  her  that  what 
was  done  could  not  be  undone,  and  she  must  therefore  make 
the  best  of  it,  for  as  she  had  openly  declared  for  the  Royalist 
party,  it  would  only  prejudice  her  friends  against  her  if  she  dis- 
regarded '  the  crowned  intercessor,'  who  took  the  bride's  part. 

Of  Alice,  Lady  Barrymore,  we  hear  little  else  ;  she  sur- 
vived Colonel  Jack,  and  was  buried  in  her  father's  tomb  at 
Youghal,  June  27,  1668. 

The  Restoration  brought  wonderfully  few  changes  to  the 
Boyle  family. 

Even  Broghill,  the  trusty  friend  of  the  Cromwell  family, 
took  no  hurt  from  their  fall.  All  that  energy  and  adroitness 
could  do  he  loyally  did  to  support  Richard  Cromwell's  suc- 
cession to  his  father's  seat  ;  but  even  Broghill  could  not  for 
long  bolster  up  that  '  meek  usurper '  of  the  English  throne. 
When  the  position  of  Richard  Cromwell  became  hopeless, 
and  it  was  evident  the  country  was  trembling  on  the  verge  of 
a  fresh  civil  war,  Broghill,  as  usual,  wasted  no  time  in  regrets, 
but,  making  the  best  of  matters,  sent  off  his  brother  Francis 


RESTORATION  451 

with  a  letter  quilted  into  his  coat-collar  inviting  King  Charles 
the  Second  to  land  in  Cork,  and  promising  that  all  Ireland 
should  rally  to  his  side. 

Broghill's  sword  was  not  needed  to  assist  the  King  to  his 
own  again,  but  the  timely  letter  was  not  forgotten.  Francis 
was  created  Earl  of  Shannon,  and  Broghill  was  elevated  to  be 
Earl  of  Orrery  and  President  of  Munster.  There,  in  spite  of 
suffering  tortures  from  gout,  he  led  an  active  life,  driving  in 
a  coach  when  too  ill  to  ride  on  horseback,  organising  and 
governing  with  all  his  father's  industry  added  to  his  own 
brilliant  resourcefulness,  happy  in  the  tenderness  of  his 
delightful  wife,  sending  his  children  to  Geneva  to  the  care  of 
patriarchal  Mr.  Marcombes,  collecting  views  on  the  art  of 
war,  writing  poetry  and  romances  and  spinning  yarns  to  his 
chaplain,  who  took  them  all  for  gospel  truth.  Ormond 
perhaps  never  entirely  forgave  Orrery  his  affection  for  the 
Cromwell  family,  and  at  intervals  there  were  accusations 
brought  up,  whether  of  high  treason  or  lesser  misdemeanours, 
but  he  triumphed  over  all,  and  his  life,  for  all  its  anxieties 
and  its  dangers,  was  a  happy  and  brilliantly  successful  one. 
He  died  October  16,  1679,  wnen  Robert,  in  his  letter  of 
sympathy  to  Lady  Orrery,  begs  her  now  to  remember  she  is  a 
mother  as  well  as  a  wife,  and  to  take  comfort  in  the  thought 
that  those  sufferings  were  at  an  end,  of  which  she  knew  so 
much,  through  her  extraordinary  kindness  in  attending  to 
them.  The  titles  of  Orrery  and  Broghill  were  inherited  by 
Lord  Orrery's  eldest  son  Roger.  His  second  son  Henry  was 
father  of  a  distinguished  lawyer,  who,  after  rilling  many 
honourable  positions  in  the  government  of  Ireland,  was 
created  Baron  of  Castle  Martyr,  Viscount  Boyle,  and  Earl 
of  Shannon,  which  titles  still  remain  in  his  line. 

The  Restoration  brought  fresh  honours  to  the  second  Earl 


452     LIFE   OF   THE  GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

of  Cork,  who  by  that  time  had  succeeded  to  his  wife's  large 
estate  in  the  north  of  England,  and  was  therefore  created  by 
the  King  Lord  Clifford  of  Londesborough  in  the  peerage  of 
England,  and  afterwards  made  Earl  of  Burlington.  He  and 
his  wife  strike  one  as  lively,  fashionable  people,  excellent,  but 
not  deeply  interesting.  Lady  Ranelagh,  for  all  her  family 
affection,  had  to  admit  she  was  sadly  bored  at  their  smart 
parties.  '  Alas  ! '  she  wrote  to  Robert,  *  the  entertainment  of 
lords,  ladies,  and  reasonable  creatures,  are  yet  several  [different] 
things,  to  the  great  grief  of  your  K.  R.' 

John  Evelyn  tells  rather  a  good  story  of  the  second  Earl 
of  Cork  :  When  Charles  u.  was  newly  come  to  his  crown, 
and  used  frequently  to  sail  down  the  river  in  his  yacht  for 
diversion,  accompanied  by  all  the  great  men  and  courtiers 
waiting  upon  him,  it  was  often  observed  that  when  the  vessel 
passed  by  a  certain  place  opposite  to  the  church  at  Deptford, 
my  Lord  Burlington  constantly  pulled  off  his  hat  with  some 
kind  of  reverence.  This  being  remarked  by  some  of  the 
lords  standing  by  him,  they  desired  he  would  tell  them  what 
he  meant  by  it :  to  which  he  replied  :  *  Do  you  see  that 
steeple  there  ?  Have  I  not  reason  to  pay  a  respect  to  the 
place  where  my  eldest  brother  lies  buried,  by  which  I  enjoy 
the  Earldom  of  Cork?'1 

The  descendants  of  Lord  Burlington  continued  to  enjoy 
his  titles  for  two  generations,  when  Richard,  fourth  Earl  of 
Cork,  leaving  only  one  daughter  and  heir,  Charlotte,  she 
carried  the  Irish  estates  and  the  Barony  of  Clifford  to  the 
Cavendish  family  by  her  marriage  in  1748  with  William, 
fourth  Duke  of  Devonshire. 

The  Earldom  of  Cork  passed  to  John,  fifth  Earl  of 
Orrery,  who  became  at  the  same  time  Viscount  Boyle  of 

1  Evelyn,  iv.  415. 


RESTORATION  453 

Kinalmeaky,  Baron  Boyle  of  Youghal,  and  Baron  of  Bandon 
Bridge.  His  father,  the  fourth  Earl  of  Orrery,  had  already 
been  admitted  to  the  English  peerage  by  the  title  of  Baron 
Boyle  of  Marston. 

Of  the  private  life  of  Francis  Boyle,  the  first  Lord 
Shannon,  we  know  little,  and  that  little  is  sad.  In  1647 
Robert  accompanied  him  to  the  Hague  to  fetch  Mrs.  Betty 
home,  but  she  did  not  long  remain  there.  She  preferred  a 
gay  and  not  very  reputable  life  at  court  to  her  husband's 
society  and  the  seclusion  of  his  beautiful  Irish  home  at 
Shannon  Park,  not  far  from  Carrigaline.  He  spent  a  useful, 
busy,  and  dignified  life  in  Munster,  and  bequeathed  his  title 
to  his  son  ;  but  his  descendants  ended  with  the  death  of  the 
third  Earl  of  Shannon  in  1 740. 

At  the  Restoration  Lady  Kinalmeaky  returned  to  England, 
and  flourished  and  grew  great,  being  made  Countess  of  Guild- 
ford  and  Groom  of  the  Stole  to  the  Queen  Mother,  Henrietta 
Maria.  After  spending  her  youth  as  a  court  beauty  she 
turned  Roman  Catholic  in  her  old  age,  and  became  so  devote 
that  she  nearly  made  a  child-martyr  of  a  little  maid-of-honour, 
Margaret  Blagge,  when  trying  to  convert  the  girl  from  the 
Anglican  faith.1 

Poor  Mary,  Lady  Warwick,  had  many  sorrows.  Her 
only  son  was  married  at  nineteen  to  Lady  Anne  Cavendish, 
but  died  in  two  years'  time,  leaving  no  children.  Lady 
Warwick's  later  life  was  chiefly  devoted  to  nursing  her 
husband,  who  suffered  terribly  from  gout,  when  the  strong 
language  the  poor  gentleman  used  shocked  his  wife  so  greatly 
that  she  was  often  obliged  to  retire  to  weep  in  private  over 
his  sins.  But  the  frequent  visits  of  Robin,  as  she  always 
called  her  brother,  and  of  Lady  Ranelagh,  were  a  great  con- 

1  See  Evelyn's  Life  of  Mrs.  Godolphin. 


454     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

solation  to  her.  She  spent  much  time  in  good  works  and 
hearing  sermons,  and  died  in  the  odour  of  sanctity  in  1678. 

Lady  Ranelagh  died  in  1691.  Her  brother  Robert  only 
survived  her  for  a  week  ;  happy  as  was  his  life  in  many 
things,  perhaps  happiest  of  all  that  in  his  death  he  and  this 
beloved  sister  were  not  divided. 

And  so  the  children  of  the  great  Earl  of  Cork  lived  out 
their  lives  ;  but  as  we  gaze  on  them  the  gay  days  of  the 
Restoration  grow  dim,  and  the  figures  we  have  conjured  up 
for  a  little  crumble  back  into  ashes. 

4  Dear  dead  women, — with  such  hair  too,  what 's  become  of  all  the 

gold 

Used  to  hang  and  brush  their  bosoms  ?     I  feel  chilly  and  grown 
old.' 

The  dust  of  well  nigh  two  centuries  and  a  half  has  gathered 
over  the  glories  of  the  great  Earl  of  Cork  ;  his  wealthy  eldest 
son  is  forgotten  ;  even  the  brilliant  Orrery  and  gallant 
Shannon  are  no  more  to  us  than  names.  Of  all  the  Boyle 
family  only  one  is  familiar  to  us  to-day,  Robert  the  philo- 
sopher, who  never  made  money,  nor  accepted  a  title,  nor 
desired  to  rule  over  any  kingdom  but  that  of  his  own  gentle 
spirit. 


APPENDIX    I 

THE  BOYLE  ESTATES  IN  MUNSTER 

THE  three  seignories  which  Boyle  purchased  from  Ralegh  gave 
him  a  little  kingdom  at  the  price  of  gd.  an  acre  ;  for  the  land  was 
bou'ght-at  what  we  call  to-day  prairie  value. 

Munster,  formerly  one  of  the  most  fertile  parts  of  Ireland,  had 
been  left  a  desert  by  the  Desmond  wars  :  the  Irish  leaders  were  in 
exile,  and  more  than  thirty  thousand  of  their  followers  lay  dead,  while 
wolves  prowled  around  the  desolate  villages.  So  few  inhabitants  were 
left  that  the  intrusion  of  English  settlers  was  not  so  barbarous  as  it 
might  seem,  and  no  Government  plantation  could  have  had  a  better 
chance  of  succeeding,  if  all  had  not  been  ruined  for  want  of  a  judicious 
plan  and  the  delay  in  carrying  out  any  plan  at  all.  The  land  for- 
feited to  the  Crown  was  granted  to  undertakers,  as  the  new  settlers 
were  called,  who  were  to  hold  their  estates  in  free  socage  at  a  yearly 
rent  of  j£66,  133.  from  each  seignory,  the  first  payments  of  which  were 
not,  however,  to  begin  till  i6go.1  No  one  was  to  have  more  in  a 
seignory  than  12,000  acres,  every  owner  of  5000  acres  was  to  empark 
600  of  them  for  the  breeding  of  horses,  and  every  settler  was  to  import 
a  certain  number  of  Englishmen  as  tenants,  and  furnish  a  certain 
number  of  soldiers  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  his  holding.2  After 
laying  down  these  admirable  rules,  the  first  thing  done  was  to  break 
them  and  grant  Ralegh  three  seignories  and  a  half  in  Waterford  and 
Cork! 

Boyle,  therefore,  after  buying  the  seignories  from  Ralegh  for 
^1500,  had  still  to  pay  nearly  ^300  as  head  rent  yearly  to  the  Crown, 
a  sum  which,  according  to  the  value  of  money  then,  may  have  really 
meant  from  £900  to  ^1200.  But  a  more  serious  matter  than  the 
rent  was  the  quota  of  soldiers  that  each  undertaker  was  bound  to 
furnish.  They  were  not  a  mere  matter  of  display,  but  were  needed  to 
protect  the  new  settlements  against  prowling  cattle-thieves,  disbanded 

1  Dunlop,  Eng.  Hist.  Rev.,  iii.  250.  2  Care<w  MSS.,  Cal.  i.  452. 

455 


456     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF  CORK 

Irish  soldiers,  and  the  original  owners  of  the  land,  if  any  chanced  to 
survive.  Boyle  often  noted  with  pride  in  his  diary  how  he  carried  his 
English  visitors  to  see  his  soldiers  mustered  at  Tallow  or  at  Bandon, 
and  by  the  time  his  sons  were  growing  up  his  estates  in  various  parts 
of  Ireland  furnished  in  all  1679  foot  and  501  horse.1  Well  might 
Cromwell  say  if  there  had  been  an  Earl  of  Cork  in  every  county  in 
Ireland  there  would  have  been  no  insurrection  of  1641. 

Youghal  was  the  capital  town  of  Boyle's  possessions  in  the  east  of 
Munster.  North-west  of  Youghal  lay  another  town,  Tallagh  or 
Tallow,  known  even  before  the  days  of  Boyle's  forges  by  an  Irish 
name  signifying  *  the  hill  of  iron.'  Ruined  in  the  Desmond  wars,  it 
was  restored  to  prosperity  by  Boyle,  who  was  very  proud  of  the  array 
of  his  armed  Tallagh  tenants,  and  who  used  his  influence  to  have 
assizes  held  there,  and  to  gain  it  representation  in  parliament.  As  it 
was  not  a  frontier  town,  it  was  never  walled,  but  in  the  wars  of  1641 
it  was  entrenched  and  gallantly  defended  by  Hugh  Croker,  Boyle's 
tenant  at  Cappoquin,  who  had  a  lease  of  that  town  and  its  fairs  and 
market  fees  for  five  years,  on  a  £10  rent,  on  condition  of  building 
there  a  castle,  a  market-house,  and  a  prison  for  the  town.  This  is  an 
example  of  what  the  nominal  rents  of  Irish  land  really  meant ;  the 
payments  were  merely  imposed  to  mark  ownership  ;  the  expenses  of 
clearing,  fencing,  and  building  were  a  heavy  enough  tax  on  new 
settlers,  not  to  speak  of  the  military  services  due.  Frequently  in  the 
leases  the  exact  materials  of  the  buildings  are  mentioned,  the  staircases 
of  ash,  the  castle-hall  of  oak,  and  the  floors  of  deal.  In  1614  Boyle 
granted  a  lease  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond's  house  in  Youghal  for  sixty- 
one  years  at  ^4  a  year,  on  condition  that  the  tenant  built  two  stone 
slated  houses,  for  which,  however,  the  landlord  provided  the  necessary 
timber. 

To  return  to  Tallow.  It  was  well  named  the  hill  of  iron,  for  at 
one  time  its  neighbourhood  and  the  green  valley  of  the  Blackwater 
bid  fair  to  be  the  Black  Country  of  Ireland.  Croker's  castle  of 
Cappoquin  overlooked  the  iron-mines  in  the  old  red  sandstone  strata, 
and  new  forges  were  set  up  from  time  to  time  all  along  the  river 
valley.  In  1620  Boyle  wrote,  'God  in  heaven  bless  my  honest 
endeavours,  for  in  His  holy  name  this  day  I  began  my  works  to  build 
the  new  double  forge  near  under  the  castle  of  Lysfinnon  Castle,  which 
good  Commonwealth's  work  I  pray  unto  God  to  prosper,  as  I  hope 
He  will.' 

1  Smith,  i.  32. 


APPENDIX   I 


457 


Boyle's  estates  extended  round  the  south-western  side  of  Cork 
harbour,  and  it  is  said  he  proposed  to  build  a  town  on  the  sheltered 
creek  at  Carrigaline,  which  should  divert  all  the  trade  from  Cork.  If 
true,  the  scheme  was  worthy  of  him.  Cork  city  was  by  no  means 
friendly  to  the  English,  and  lies  on  a  narrow  tidal  river.  If  Carri- 
galine, which  is  much  nearer  to  the  sea,  had  been  erected  into  a  city 
under  the  shelter  of  its  impregnable  castle,  it  would  not  only  have 
been  an  excellent  trading  centre,  but  would  also  have  been  the  port 
for  England  and  haven  of  refuge  that  Youghal  afterwards  became 
under  Boyle's  influence.  But  Carrigaline  city  was  never  built. 

In  Sir  Richard  Cox's  History  of  Ireland  a  list  of  six  towns  built  by 
Boyle  is  given.  Lismore  and  Tallow  are  the  only  ones  in  the  eastern 
part  of  Munster ;  the  others  lie  towards  the  west,  where  the  most 
important  of  them  was  placed  to  command  the  wild  country  known 
in  those  days  as  the  fastnesses  of  Kinalmeaky,  through  which  flows 
the  Bandon  river. 

The  first  English  proprietor  in  that  country  was  Captain  Nuce, 
who  built  Nucestown  high  up  on  the  Bandon  river.  When  Boyle 
bought  his  estate  he  saw  that  a  better  site  would  be  lower  down  the 
stream,  on  the  most  frequented  ford,  and  there  he  built  his  town  of 
Bandon  Bridge.  Henry  Beecher  owned  a  great  part  of  the  land  round 
Boyle's  new  settlement,  and  in  1618  Boyle  agreed  to  buy  his  Bandon 
and  Ballymodan  lands,  perfecting  the  agreement  in  May  1619;  and 
in  1624  ne  added  to  these  lands  Beecher's  Castle  Mahown  estate.  Sir 
Vincent  Gookin  seems  to  have  stepped  in,  and  got  some  part  of 
Beecher's  Kinalmeaky  lands  while  Boyle  was  bargaining,  and  a  long 
struggle  for  their  possession  followed,  which  was  not  decided  till  1630,* 
when  Gookin  gave  Boyle  his  choice  of  ^500  'to  release  unto  him  the 
title  I  make  to  those  lands  he  purchased  of  Mr.  H.  Beecher,  or  to  con- 
vey over  his  estate  to  me  at  the  price  he  paid.'  Boyle  seems  to  have 
accepted  the  money,  as  Gookin  afterwards  sold  some  of  the  lands  to 
Sir  J.  Bernard.2 

Boyle  saw  to  it  that  the  houses  of  Bandon  were  solidly  built,  with 
stone  gables  and  chimneys  j  the  other  parts  of  the  buildings  were  of 
wood  and  plaster,  like  the  cottages  and  farms  of  the  period  in  the  west 
of  England.  The  roofs  were  shingled  with  oak,  and  as  the  streets 
were  planned  that  each  house  should  have  its  own  garden,  the 
picturesque  black  and  white  houses  appeared  to  be  standing  in  an 
enormous  orchard.  The  town-walls,  of  which  Boyle  wrote  with  such 

1  See  ante,  chap.  xix.  2  Note  by  Mr.  F.  W.  Gookin. 


458     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

pride,  were  about  nine  feet  thick,  and  thirty  to  fifty  feet  high,  built  of 
a  strong  black  slate  rock.  The  foundations  of  them,  wrote  Boyle  in 
his  diary,  were  laid  in  1620,  and  he  piously  added,  *  I  hope  the  God  of 
heaven  will  bless  and  prosper  my  good  purposes  therein.'  The  church 
had  been  one  of  the  first  buildings  erected  in  the  town,  and  in  1614 
Boyle  had  given  a  year's  rent  of  his  parsonage  of  Ballymodane  towards 
the  cost  of  building  it.  Other  public  buildings  followed  in  due  time. 
In  1634  a  free  grammar  school  and  almshouses  were  founded,  and  in 
all  Bo.yle  spent  over  £14,000  on  his  town. 

In  the  year  1613  it  was  incorporated,  but  the  independence  of 
feeling  fostered  in  the  sturdy  settlers  of  c  Protestant  Bandon '  by 
having  a  Mayor  of  their  own,  was  rather  exasperating  to  Boyle.  At 
one  time  his  displeasure  with  the  townspeople  so  delayed  the  building 
of  the  school  and  almshouses  that  he  proposed  to  give  to  the  town, 
that  they  were  not  complete  at  his  death,  and  he  therefore  bequeathed 
in  his  will  legacies  for  the  stipend  of  the  schoolmaster  and  almsmen  at 
the  Bandon  Foundation,  lwhen  it  shall  be  finished,'  as  he  greatly 
desired  *  the  good  increased  prosperity  of  the  town  and  the  inhabitants 
thereof,  whom  I  have  ever  (till  now  of  late)  much  beloved  and 
respected.'  He  also  commanded  that  a  substantial  stone  bridge  should 
be  built  with  his  arms  cut  on  the  side  wall,  where  the  timber  bridge 
then  stood.1 

Dingle,  on  the  Kerry  coast,  and  the  wild  Blasket  Islands  with 
their  eyries  of  hawks  and  rights  to  wrecks,  carried  Boyle's  estates 
right  across  the  country  from  east  to  west.  Garret  Trant,  the 
Sovereign  or  Mayor  of  Dingle,  wrote  thanking  Boyle  for  helping  to 
restore  '  this  poore  towne,'  and  to  express  his  hopes  that  '  his  Majesty 
and  the  State '  would  yet  help  to  raise  it  from  its  ruins. 

Not  so  far  from  the  Dingle  property  was  the  Castle  of  Askeaton 
that  Boyle  had  seen  fall  into  the  victorious  hands  of  Sir  George  Carew, 
and  now  owned  himself.  That  splendid  fortress  pointed  the  way 
eastward  again  to  the  Limerick  estates  Joan  Apsley  had  brought  as 
her  dowry  to  her  young  husband. 

1  Sir  R.  Cox,  in  his  dedication  of  Regnum  Corcagiense  to  Boyle's  grandson,  says : 
'  It  is  easy  to  observe  that  the  great  expense  [of  building  the  town]  was  not  lost,  but 
did  fully  answer  the  noble  designs  of  the  wise  architect,  for  this  towne  became  a 
sanctuary  to  the  adjacent  country,  and  a  safeguard  to  the  neighbouring  English,  and 
indeed  to  the  whole  county  of  Cork,  all  the  time  of  the  Irish  rebellion.  Moreover 
this  other  advantage  was  reaped  by  it,  that  his  contiguous  lands,  in  30  years'  time, 
became  worth  treble  what  they  were  before,  and  in  30  years  more  so  doubled  their 
value  again/— Printed  in  Cork  Arch.  Jour.,  1902,  p.  68. 


APPENDIX   I 


459 


It  would  be  difficult  and  wearisome  to  catalogue  each  purchase 
that  added  to  the  size  of  Boyle's  estates,  but  the  property  bought  from 
Sir  Bernard  Grenville,  son  of  the  heroic  Sir  Richard  of  the  Revenge^ 
was,  next  to  the  Ralegh  grants,  the  most  important  acquisition  of  all, 
and  it  gave  Boyle  more  trouble  to  secure  than  all  the  rest  of  his 
property.  He  greatly  desired  to  get  it,  as  the  Kinalmeaky  part  of  it 
marched  with  his  estates  at  Bandon,  Gill  Abbey  was  close  to  his  lands 
at  Carrigaline,  the  Grenville  town  of  Fermoy  was  a  near  neighbour  to 
his  home  of  Lismore,  and  the  seaport  and  castle  of  Dungarvan  were 
close  to  Youghal,  and  were  chosen  to  give  the  title  to  Boyle's  eldest 
son,  Viscount  Dungarvan.  But  the  purchase  was  no  easy  matter;  Boyle 
catalogued  the  story  of  his  worries  over  it  very  fully  in  a  long  letter 
to  his  sympathetic  and  powerful  friend,  Sir  Edward  Villiers,  whose 
help  he  desired  to  gain.  He  explained  that  Sir  Bernard  Grenville  had 
sent  over  an  agent  authorised  to  sell  the  property  for  ^3500,  but 
Boyle  thought  the  price  too  high,  as  the  estates  were  all  either 
mortgaged  or  c  maimed  with  long  leases  at  very  base  rents,'  and  the 
woods  had  been  cut  down.  The  estate  was  then  offered  to  two  other 
gentlemen  who  also  refused  to  buy  it,  and  in  1619  Boyle  was  again 
urged  to  take  the  property,  and  he  consented  to  do  so,  although  he 
knew  he  was  paying  a  fancy  price.  The  deeds  were  drawn  up  in  the 
presence  of  Sir  Edward  Harris,  a  kinsman  of  the  Grenvilles,  and  Sir 
John  Harris,  Chief  Justice  of  Munster ;  Boyle  agreeing  to  pay  the 
money  within  a  year  in  two  instalments,  and  to  receive  possession  at 
All  Saints' Day,  1620.  The  purchase-money  was  made  up  with  much 
difficulty,  seven  pounds'  worth  of  pipe-staves  being  counted  as  paying 
six  pounds  of  money  due,  and  so  in  merchandise  and  coin  the  first 
instalment  was  shipped  to  Bristol  and  formally  received  there  by  the 
Mayor  and  five  aldermen,  and  in  their  keeping  it  remained  for  a  year 
and  a  half.  Then  it  came  out  that  Sir  Bernard  had  fallen  out  with 
Harris,  and  to  vex  him,  had  sold  the  estates  over  Boyle's  head  to  the 
Lord  Treasurer,  Lionel  Cranfield,  afterwards  Earl  of  Middlesex.1  'A 
thing,'  Boyle  wrote  to  Sir  Edward  Villiers,  that  he  was  'loath  to 
believe,'  but  should  it  prove  true,  he  begged  his  friend  to  use  his 
influence  with  Lord  Cranfield  to  get  him  to  re-sell  the  land  at  the 
same  price,  for  Lord  Cranfield  having  no  adjoining  land  to  make  the 
Grenville  estates  valuable,  would  find  the  purchase  a  dear  one.  Never- 

1  '  Lionel  Cranfield  . . .  had  been  bred  in  the  City,  a  man  of  wit  and  understanding 
in  all  the  mysteries  of  trade/ — Clarendon,  Hist.  Rel>.,  i.  34.  f 


460     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

theless,  to  gain  his  goodwill,  Boyle  would  send  over  '  a  hundred  pounds 
to  buy  his  Lordship  a  horse  withall.' l 

All  Boyle's  friends  were  asked  in  turn  for  help,  but  not  till  April 
1625  did  the  Earl  of  Middlesex  at  last  consent  to  fix  his  price,  asking 
for  ^5000,  which,  says  Boyle  shortly,  c  I  refused.'  But  although 
Boyle  saw  that  for  once  he  had  been  completely  overreached,  he  was 
determined  to  have  the  land,  and  at  last  paid  ^4500,  and  was  at  rest. 
There  were  probably  wheels  within  wheels :  the  powerful  Lord 
Treasurer  had  very  likely  got  the  needy  Cornish  Knight  into  his 
power,  for  poor  Sir  Bernard  and  his  heir  seemed  to  have  gained 
nothing  by  the  broken  bargain.  The  legal  delays  managed  by 
Middlesex  were  worthy  of  Bleak  House,  and  a  certain  bond  for 
j£8oo  which  he  had  agreed  to  pay  to  Boyle  on  behalf  of  the  Grenvilles 
was,  it  appears,  never  paid  at  all,  for  in  1641  when  Sir  Bernard  and 
Middlesex  were  both  dead  Boyle  was  still  drawing  up  memorials  to 
the  House  of  Lords  concerning  this  grievance.2  No  wonder  if  Boyle 
felt  some  small  triumph  when  his  London  friends  wrote  to  him  that 
the  Earl  of  Middlesex  had  retired  from  public  life,  and  was  la  man 
clean  forgotten,'  while  his  own  good  fortune  flourished  more  bravely 
year  after  year,  and  Gill  Abbey  was  being  rebuilt  and  beautified  with 
cut  stone  chimney-pieces  and  windows  imported  expressly  from 
Bristol. 

When  Boyle  could  compromise  a  claim  by  paying  some  small  sum 
he  was  usually  willing  not  to  refer  the  matter  to  the  courts.  A 
characteristic  example  is  that  of  part  of  his  Tallagh  property,  which 
was  in  1630  claimed  by  a  man  who  finally  carried  his  complaints 
before  the  English  Judges ;  they  referred  the  case  to  arbitrators,  who 
unluckily  died  before  giving  their  decision  ;  then  the  Lord  Deputy 
ordered  it  to  be  heard  by  the  Master  of  the  Rolls  in  Dublin,  who  in 
his  turn  sent  it  to  the  Courts  of  Common  Law.  At  last  the  claimant, 
wearied  with  the  endless  delays,  proposed  to  refer  the  whole  case  to 
4  two  honest  gentlemen  ' ;  for  it  was  generally  held  that  equity  was  on 
his  side  and  law  on  Boyle's.  Whether  by  advice  of  the  two  honest 
gentlemen  or  from  sheer  despair  does  not  appear,  but  he  finally  handed 
in  all  his  documents  to  Boyle  himself,  who  lost  interest  in  his  case  as 
soon  as  his  adversary  ceased  to  fight,  and  paid  the  claimant  £100,  'for 
which,'  he  writes,  c  I  had  all  their  blessings.' 

Once  Boyle  was  very  anxious  to  buy  up  the  lease  of  certain  lands, 
which  James  Fitzgerald  held  of  Mervyn  Archdale  for  his  own  and  his 
1  L.  P.,  ii.  3.  17,  1 8.  2  Lords  Journs.,  iv.  376. 


APPENDIX   I  461 

wife's  lives.  Fitzgerald  held  out  for  j£6o,  a  higher  price  than  Boyle 
chose  to  pay,  but  on  Mrs.  Fitzgerald's  death,  the  widower  gave  over 
his  lease  to  Boyle  unconditionally,  when  Boyle  immediately  handed 
over  the  /6o  to  him  c  as  a  free  gift ' ! 

A*  O 

Dr.  Hayman  gives  the  following  account  of  Ralegh's  estates  in  his 
Handbook  for  Toughal: — 

*  1604. — April  2.  Inquisition  held  at  Tallagh,  Co.  Waterford, 
before  E.  Coponger,  gent.,  Deputy  of  W.  Kenny,  Escheator  of 
Ireland,  and  a  Jury. — Who  find  that  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  lent.,  lately 
attainted  of  high  treason,  was  seized  as  of  fee  at  the  time  of  such 
attainder,  17  Nov.  1603. — Waterford  Co.  Of  the  manor,  castle,  and 
town  of  Lismore,  and  4  carucates,  viz.  the  Castleplowland,  otherwise 
Carrownecloghie,  Ballynaspick,  otherwise  Bishopstoune,  Ballyea  and 
Bally-In  in  Waterford  co.  with  court  baron  and  view  of  frankpledge 
in  Lismore  ;  also  a  common  in  Ballinraghter,  for  the  use  of  the  provost 
of  the  town  for  the  time  being,  who  was  annually  elected  by  the  Lord 
of  the  manor  from  among  the  burgesses,  and  for  the  burgesses  and  for 
the  inhabitants  of  Lismore  ;  which  common  has  been  occupied  time 
out  of  mind  as  a  common  for  pasture  and  tillage ;  at  a  rent  to  the 
lord  of  the  manor  of  8d.  Eng.  for  every  acre  under  tillage,  and  of  los. 
Eng.  for  the  pasturage  thereof,  besides  duties  and  customs  due  there- 
out : — that  a  weekly  Saturday  market  and  two  fairs,  one  at  Whitsun- 
tide, and  the  other  on  St.  Valentine's  day,  to  continue  for  3  days  each, 
were  held  at  Lismore,  subject  to  the  usual  tolls  and  customs : — that  he 
was  also  seized  of  the  soil  and  ground  and  bank  of  the  river  Awmore, 
otherwise  Blackwater  or  Broadwater,  with  its  fishing  and  stream  from 
Glanmore  near  Mocollop  in  Waterford  co.  to  the  two  points  of  the 
mountain  of  Cornawnkyndroneigh,  on  the  lands  of  Eustace  Roche, 
gent,  in  the  same  co.,  and  also  of  the  office  of  admiralty  of  the  said 
river,  with  all  the  rights  and  advantages  thereof,  and  of  two  salmon- 
weirs,  an  eel-weir,  a  ferry,  a  water-mill  and  water-course ;  all  being 
parcel  of  the  manor  ;  and  of  the  annual  rents  following  ;  IDS.  English 
out  of  the  lands  of  Artzale,  and  those  of  Eustace  Roche,  gent.  6s.  8d. 
Eng.  out  of  Rossgrelly,  and  the  lands  of  John  Roche  FitzThomas ; 
6s.  8d.  out  of  Tworin,  and  the  lands  of  Edmund  Roche,  gent.  as.  out 
of  Monytrime,  and  the  lands  of  Edmund  Og  Power,  gent. ;  is.  4d.  out 
of  Ballinvelly,  and  the  lands  of  David  Lownt ;  is.  4d.  out  of  Balline- 
cargie ;  ^2,  133.  4d.  out  of  the  lands  of  the  provost  and  burgesses  of 
Lismore ;  with  the  services  of  the  tenants  in  thjsse  lands ;  all  being 
parcel  of  the  manor  of  Lismore,  and  worth  £2  Eng.  by  the  year ; 


462     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 

besides  a  rent  of  ^13,  6s.  8d.  payable  to  the  bishop  of  Lismore  and  his 
successors — a  moiety  of  i  carucate  near  Kilbree  called  Norres's  Land 

the  manor  and  castle  of  Lyffeenyn — the  ruinous  town  of  Tallagh — 

5j  carucates  of  land  in  Lyffeenyn  with  a  salmon-weir  there  on  the 
river  Bride,  Talloe,  le  Egglishe,  Kilmore,  Kilcagh,  Killowen,  Knocne- 
muck,  Aganbwy,  Crogh,  Reogh,  and  Ballynegallowe  ;  all  being  parcel 
of  the  manor  of  Lyffeenyn  and  town  of  Tallagh — the  castle  and  town 
of  the  Shane  with  %  carucates  of  land  in  Shane  and  Ballyduff,  and  a 
burgage  in  Lismore,  formerly  belonging  to  John  O'Feighe — the  town 
of  Tercullen-more,  i  carucate — Tercullen-begg  and  Garrigera,  I 
carucate,  and  a  water-mill  and  a  water-course  there — Ballygarran, 
Canmucky,  Ballynemodagh,  and  Kilnewty  or  Ballyneetie,  containing 
i  carucate  each  —  the  manor,  castle,  and  town  of  Shroncally  or 
Stronecally,  with  a  salmon-weir  on  the  Awmore,  and  5  carucates 
thereto  belonging;  viz.  the  Castle-plowland,  Skartnecurcoge,  Kil- 
cockane,  Ballyngoan,  and  Ballyogallagh — the  manor  of  Ballinetra, 
with  its  appurtenances  in  Ballingarran,  Ballymotie  or  Ballymoskie, 
Cowlebeggan,  and  Ballydesson  in  Templemichell,  a  water-mill  and 
water-course  in  Ballinetra,  and  two  weirs  on  the  Awmore ;  together 
with  a  parcel  of  land  called  the  Claron,  \  carucate,  and  half  the  weir 
of  Claron  ;  all  being  parcel  of  the  said  manor — David  FitzEdmund 
Roche,  late  of  Kilrobistowne  in  Waterford  co.  was  seized  in  fee  at 
the  time  of  his  attainder,  of  Kilrobystown,  i  carucate — Sanderstown 
or  Ballyhandon  with  i  carucate  in  Shanderstown  or  Ballyhandon — 
\  carucate  in  Carrigroe,  and  the  burgage  called  Burgess-more, 
usually  held  herewith  in  the  town  of  Lismore,  of  which  burgage 
the  moiety  is  claimed  by  John  Kenland,  by  right  of  mortgage, 
Kilwatermoy,  ya  country  measure,  lately  belonging  to  the  abbey  or 
house  of  canons  of  Molannan,  otherwise  Molanassa,  the  prior  and 
convent  of  which,  at  the  time  of  its  dissolution,  were  seized,  as  of 
fee,  in  right  of  the  monastery,  of  the  site,  &c.,  of  the  same  situate  on 
the  Awmore  near  the  castle  of  Templemichell  and  Ballinetra,  and 
containing  within  its  walls  i|a — also  of  a  water-mill  called  the 
Chanon's  Mill,  3  salmon-weirs,  I2a  arable,  6a  pasture  in  Temple- 
michell and  Ringcrowe — of  Killnegannanagh,  2  carucates — Down- 
moone,  2  carucates — the  walls  and  ground  of  a  ruinous  chapel  .in 
Diskirty,  with  I2a  arable,  and  8a  furze  and  briars  in  the  same — of 
5Oa  besides  pasture  in  Ardmore — of  i8a  called  the  Quarters — 2  islands 
near  Conhie,  containing  6a — 2  salmon  and  eel-weirs  on  the  Awmore 
— the  tithes  of  the  weir  of  Bally-mejonick — the  said  prior  and  convent 


APPENDIX   I  463 

were  also  seized,  as  before,  of  the  rectories,  churches,  and  chapels  of 
Templemichell,  Killcocain,  Killoghtermoy,  Tallagh,  Collegan,  Licoran, 
otherwise  Lyboran,  Killvallon,  Killynan,  Baremeghoe  Bramegho  or 
Bararmegho,  and  Lackadoran,  with  their  glebes,  tithes,  alterages,  and 
other  profits,  and  also  of  the  advowsons  and  right  of  presentation  of 
the  churches  and  vicarages  of  the  parishes  above-named,  as  also  of  the 
cell  of  Aghenore,  with  divers  lands  and  tithes  in  Kerry  and  Desmond 
co.,  and  of  the  church,  rectory,  and  chapel  of  Kilfemyne,  with  its 
tithes  in  Limerick  co.,  and  that  of  Kilbolane,  with  its  tithes  in  Cork 
co.,  and  with  the  advowsons  and  right  of  patronage  of  Kilbolane  and 
Kilfeeny  ;  all  of  which  now  belong  to  the  King  by  right  of  his  crown. 

1  Thomas  Witherhead,  formerly  bishop  of  Waterford  and  Lismore, 
was  seized  of  fee,  in  right  of  his  bishoprick,  of  the  manor  of  Ardmore, 
and  of  the  town  and  lands  of  Ballynemony  and  Crobally,  otherwise 
Cowley,  8|a,  which  by  consent  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  the 
cathedral  church  of  St.  Carthage,  otherwise  Mowdi  of  Lismore,  he 
demised,  by  a  lease  dated  15  Jan.  33rd  Eliz.  to  Sir  Walter  Ralegh 
for  101  years,  at  a  rent  of  £6  Ir.  who  continued  in  possession  thereof 
until  ejected  by  Sir  John  Dowdall,  knt.,  late  of  Piltown  in  Waterford 
co.  17  Jan.  35th  Eliz.  who  still  holds  the  same,  but  by  what  right  the 
Jury  knows  not.  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  was  also  seized  of  the  manor  of 
Kilbree,  with  its  appurtenances,  of  which  the  town  and  lands  of 
New  Aghvane  are  parcel  and  of  the  Dean's  house  and  garden,  and 
Tample-Christ,  and  of  the  towns  and  lands  of  Ballindeganagh  and 
Ballynesaggard,  for  several  terms  of  years  not  yet  expired. 

c  The  deed,  prepared  in  1602,  was  between  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  Knt., 
Captain  of  the  Queen's  Guard,  Lord  Warden  of  the  Stannaries  in 
Devon  and  Cornwall  cos.,  and  Governor  of  Jersey  Isle  and  castle,  and 
Richard  Boyle,  Esq.,  Clerk  of  the  Council  in  Munster,  being  a  native 
of  England  ;  whereby  Sir  Walter,  in  consideration  of  ^500  English 
money  beforehand  paid,  £500  to  be  paid  at  Michaelmas  1603,  and 
j£5OO  to  be  paid  at  Easter  1604,  demised  to  the  said  Boyle  the  lands 
following :  The  manor,  castle,  and  barony  of  Inchequin  and  White- 
Island  ;  the  towns  and  lands  of  Corkcorgraine,  Collicranagh,  the  half 
plowland  near  Yoghall  next  to  Bally  Clement,  Rahanolane  and  Knock- 
negepae ;  the  manor,  castle,  town,  and  lands  of  Ballynetra,  with  five 
plowlands  called  the  Castle  Plowland,  Coolebeggan,  Kilnetorae, 
Ballemoytie  or  Ballymoskie,  Balligorran,  certain  lands  in  Tample- 
mighell  and  the  half  plowland  of  Clarown,  with  four  weares  and  the 
water-course  and  mill  of  Ballinetra  j  the  manor,  castle,  and  town  of 


464     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF  CORK 

Stronecally  or  Stronecalliagh,  containing  five  plowlands  ;  the  town  and 
lands  of  Camnucke,  Ballinemaddaghe,  Killnewtye,  Ballymachonycke, 
Kilfenton  on  Ballyneiorie,  Ballinefunshogge,  Tyrcullenmore,  Tyre- 
cullenbeg,  and  Garrigerae  ;  the  manor,  castle,  and  town  of  Lisfynen, 
and  decayed  town  of  Tallaghe,  with  the  villages  and  lands  of  Kilmore, 
Kilcahe,  Killowen,  Knocknemuck,  Aghanbroye,  Croghrew,  Balli- 
garrow,  containing  6  plowlands ;  half  the  towns  and  villages  of 
Tamplevally,  Curriglasse,  Lysnobryn,  and  a  parcel  of  land  called  The 
Parson's  Close  ;  the  towns  and  villages  of  Ballycollane,  Shanokill,  and 
Garriduffe  ;  the  manor,  castle,  town,  and  lands  of  Mogeylae,  and  the 
villages  of  Glanatow  and  Caragayn,  containing  about  2^  plowlands ; 
the  manor,  castle,  and  town  of  the  Sheane,  and  2  plowlands  ;  one 
parcel  of  land  called  Norres's  land  ;  the  town  and  lands  of  Aghmean 
or  Aghvane ;  the  castles,  towns,  and  lands  of  Kilbree  and  Kilmakeo  ; 
the  castle,  manor,  lordship,  and  town  of  Lismore  ;  the  towns,  villages, 
and  hamlets  of  Balliea,  Bally-In,  and  Ballinaspicke  or  Bishopstown, 
with  the  weirs,  and  salmon  and  eel-fishings,  and  tithe  and  custom- 
fishing  of  Lismore,  with  the  river  Awemoare,  and  the  fishing  thereof, 
and  all  the  water-mills,  mill-ponds,  mill-streams,  water-courses,  and 
chief  rents  of  Lismore,  and  2OOa  annexed  to  the  mill  of  Lismore,  in 
the  town  and  fields  of  Lismore,  the  Dean's  house,  and  old  chapel  in 
Lismore,  with  the  townlands  of  Ballinedgane  ;  all  other  seignories, 
manors,  lordships,  and  other  possessions,  rights,  and  hereditaments 
whatsoever,  both  spiritual  and  temporal,  which  are,  or  at  any  time 
were,  the  inheritance  of  the  said  Sir  Walter  in  Ireland,  excepting  the 
lands  which  are  stated  in  the  schedule  annexed  to  this  indenture,  to 
have  been  sold  or  leased  in  fee-farm,  or  for  a  term  of  years. 

'  To  hold  for  ever  :  All  the  estate  of  the  said  Sir  Walter  in  the 
College  of  Yoghall,  called  the  New  College  of  the  B.  V.  Mary  of 
Yoghall,  with  all  its  rights  and  hereditaments,  spiritual  and  temporal ; 
in  the  lands  and  woods  called  the  Vicar's  Wood  ;  in  the  ...  of 
Lismore,  and  the  tithes  and  profits  thereof ;  in  the  manor,  and  castle, 
and  town  of  Ardmore,  and  8  plowlands  thereunto  belonging ;  in 
the  manors,  castles,  towns,  and  lands  of  Killbree,  Ballynecolley, 
Tracton-Abbey,  and  Ballymarter  ;  in  the  lands  of  Kilbarie,  containing 
9  plowlands ;  in  the  castle,  town,  and  lands  of  Kilmacpatrick  ;  in 
the  castle,  manor,  town,  and  lands  of  Mocollop,  with  5  plowlands 
thereto  belonging  ;  in  the  town  and  lands  of  Kill-macnicholas  ;  in  the 
castle,  town,  and  lands  of  Balliphilip,  with  2  plowlands,  with  all  the 
seignories,  lordships,  rights,  and  hereditaments,  spiritual  and  temporal, 


APPENDIX    I  465 

wherein  the  said  Sir  Walter  is  in  any  way  interested,  and  held  by  him, 
for  divers  terms  of  years :  To  hold  for  like  terms  of  years.  Edmund 
Colthurst,  of  Lyffynnen,  gent.,  Richard  Smith,  of  Ballynetrae,  Edmund 
Coppinger,  of  Youngess,  gent.,  Manus  McSheye,  of  Kylnetora,  gent., 
Ullick  Wale  and  John  Chillester,  are  appointed  attornies  by  Sir 
Walter,  to  give  possession. 

'  Memorandum.  Sir  Walter  gives  to  Mr.  Boyle  his  brass  piece  with 
the  carriage,  and  such  iron  pieces  as  he  had  in  Ireland,  with  authority 
to  him  to  seize  on  them  at  Moyallo,  or  wherever  else  they  may  have 
been  carried  by  Sir  Thomas  Norris,  without  licence. 

£  1604. — 3  April.  Grant  from  the  Queen  to  Sir  George  Carew, 
knt.,  Vice-Chamberlain  to  the  Queen.  In  Yoghall  town.  Two 
messuages  and  gardens,  and  all  the  lands  and  hereditaments,  spiritual 
and  temporal,  of  the  New  College  of  the  B.  V.  Mary  of  Yoghall ; 
rent  2s. ;  with  the  advowsons,  presentations,  etc.,  of  the  wardenship, 
and  all  churches,  rectories,  vicarages,  and  chapels,  of  all  other  benefices 
belonging  to  said  wardenship  ;  rent  33.  4d. ;  parcel  of  the  estate  of 
Gerald,  Earl  of  Desmond,  attainted  ;  demised  in  fee  farm,  to  Sir  James 
Fullerton,  knt.,  7  Nov.  1603,  at  a  rent  of  45.  The  moiety  of 
Uniack's  mansion-house  and  garden  in  Yoghall — the  moiety  of 
4  messuages,  and  of  several  small  closes  or  parks,  and  of  Knockgot- 
tigan,  and  of  Ballyclennesy  near  Kilcoran,  and  of  a  water-mill  and  of 
the  fourth  part  of  the  weir  of  Yoghall — the  moiety  of  8oa  arable  and 
pasture,  small  measure,  in  Ballihubert — the  moiety  of  Ballywarrygh- 
woightragh,  containing  \  carucate  or  plowland — the  moety  of  Bally- 
warry-Ightrie,  \  carucate — the  moiety  of  Barnenighi,  |  carucate — the 
moiety  of  Balleverregin,  1  carucate — the  moiety  of  Mocrue,  |  carucate  ; 
all  lying  in  or  about  Yoghall,  and  known  by  the  name  of  Uniack's 
Lands,  and  were  parcel  of  the  estate  of  Maurice  FitzEdmund  Gerald, 
gent.,  slain  in  rebellion  ;  £\  Irish. 

*  1604. — 10  May.  Grant  from  the  King  to  Sir  Richard  Boyle,  knt., 
Cork  co.  The  whole  barony,  manor,  and  castle  of  Inchiquin  other- 
wise Inchecoigne,  with  5  plowlands  or  carucates  adjoining,  and 
usually  occupied  with  the  said  castle,  and  one  water-mill  and  one 
water-course,  and  one  salmon-weir  near  the  said  castle,  on  the  river 
Woany  otherwise  Woom,  and  also  all  the  said  river,  and  the  free 
fishing  thereof.  The  Priory,  or  late  House  of  Observant  Friars  near 
Yoghall,  called  the  Black  Friars  of  Yoghall,  with  all  their  possessions, 
spiritual  and  temporal  whatever,  with  courts  baron  and  leet.  And 
whereas  Sir  Walter  Ralegh  at  the  time  of  his  attainder,  by  virtue  of 

2  G 


466     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

a  lease  by  Thomas  Withcrhcad,  then  Warden  of  the  New  College  of 
the  B.  V.  Mary  of  Yoghall,  in  the  diocese  of  Cloyne,  Cork  co.,  and 
the  priests,  collegioners,  and  convent  of  the  same  College  under  the 
common  seal,  dated,  28  Sept.  1588,  made  to  Sir  Thomas  Norris,  knt., 
late  Lord  President  of  Munster,  deceased,  for  60  years,  was  lawfully 
possessed  for  the  term  uncxpired  of  the  said  lease,  of  and  in  the  said 
New  College  of  St.  Mary  of  Yoghall,  by  mesne  conveyance  from  said 
Norris,  with  all  the  hereditaments,  spiritual  and  temporal,  thereto 
belonging,  paying  to  the  said  Warden  and  his  successors  the  yearly 
rent  of  ^13  6s.  8d.  sterling;  and  also,  by  virtue  of  a  lease,  dated 
14  July,  33rd  Eliz.  [1591],  made  to  said  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  by  the 
bishop,  dean,  and  chapter  of  Lismore,  for  60  years,  he  was  possessed 
of  the  economic  or  rectory  of  Lismore,  with  all  the  tithes,  glebe,  etc., 
thereof  in  Waterford  co. ;  also  by  virtue  of  a  lease,  dated  16  Jan., 
33rd  Eliz.  made  by  the  said  bishop,  dean,  and  chapter  to  Randall 
Knevett,  gent.,  for  80  years,  and  purchased  by  Sir  Walter,  he  was 
possessed  of  the  manor  and  town  of  Kilbree  with  2  plowlands  thereto 
belonging,  in  Waterford  co.,  whereof  the  town  and  lands  of  New 
Aghvane  are  parcel ;  also  by  indenture  from  Thomas  Witherhead, 
Bishop  of  Waterford  and  Lismore,  dated  15  Jan.,  33rd  Eliz.  for 
101  years,  with  the  consent  of  the  dean  and  chapter  of  Lismore, 
he  was  possessed  of  the  manor,  lordship,  castle,  towns,  etc.,  of  Ardmore, 
Ballinemonie,  and  Crobally  or  Cowly  in  Lismore  diocese,  and  the  rent 
of  £6  Irish,  and  so  continued  possessed  for  two  years  and  more,  until 
Sir  John  Dowdall,  knt.,  ejected  him  thereout,  17  Jan.,  35th  Eliz. 
[1593],  and  still  detaineth  the  same;  all  which  interests  the  King 
grants  to  Sir  Richard  Boyle,  with  power  to  take  possession  of  the  said 
manor  of  Ardmore,  etc.,  without  suit,  or  else  by  law  to  recover  the 
same. 

*  Queen  Elizabeth,  for  the  peopling  of  the  Province  of  Munster, 
granted  by  patent  to  Sir  Walter  Ralegh,  now  lately  attainted  of  high 
treason,  and  then  one  of  the  principal  undertakers  of  said  province,  the 
barony  and  manor  of  Inchiquin,  with  divers  other  lands,  spiritual  and 
temporal,  Who  for  his  better  and  more  commodious  planting  and 
strengthening  himself  in  the  said  province,  and  to  the  end  he  might 
be  the  better  enabled  to  re-people  the  same  with  civil  English  people, 
purchased  divers  other  possessions  adjoining  his  said  lands ;  all  which 
being  wasted  and  depopulated  by  the  late  rebellion  in  that  province, 
the  said  Sir  Walter,  in  consideration  of  ^1500  English,  sold,  as  well 
as  all  his  other  lands  in  Ireland,  unto  Sir  Richard  Boyle  for  ever ;  by 


APPENDIX   I  467 

force  whereof,  the  said  Sir  Richard  possessed  the  same,  and  with  very 
great  travail,  and  charge  hath  drawn  over  thither  so  many  English 
subjects,  as  do  now  fully  re-inhabit  those  lands,  to  the  great  strength 
and  security  of  all  the  neighbouring  borders.  And  having  paid  the 
said  £1500,  and  become  suitor  to  the  immediate  tenant  and  patentee 
of  the  same,  the  King  for  the  considerations  aforesaid,  and  also  in 
respect  of  the  said  Sir  Richard  Boyle's  good,  true,  and  faithful  services 
to  the  Crown,  now  by  his  patent  grants  the  same.  To  hold  for  ever, 
without  accounting  to  the  Crown,  in  fee-farm,  as  of  the  castle  of 
Carrigrohan  in  Cork  co.,  in  free  and  common  soccage. 

*  1609-10. — 8  March.     Grant  from  the  King  to  Donogh,  Earl  of 
Thomond,  The  College,  or  tenement  within  the  walls  of  Yoghall, 
called  the  New  College  of  the  B.  V.  Mary  of  Yoghall,  in  the  diocese 
of  Cloyne,  with  all  its  hereditaments  whatever. 

4  1609-10. — 23  March.  Grant  from  the  King  to  Sir  Richard 
Boyle,  knt.  All  the  lands,  etc.,  granted  to  him  by  patent,  dated 
29  Nov.  1603,  and  those  granted  to  him  by  patent,  dated  10  May 
1604,  are  hereby  confirmed  to  him,  and  the  following  are  added. 
The  advowson,  patronage,  and  presentation  of  the  Wardenship  of  the 
New  College  of  priests  and  clerks  of  the  church  of  the  B.  V.  Mary  of 
Yoghall,  Cloyne  diocese,  and  of  all  the  churches,  rectories,  vicarages, 
chapels,  and  the  nomination  of  the  several  curates  and  all  other  spiritual 
benefits  to  the  said  Wardenship  belonging. 

4  A  ruinous  messuage  in  Yoghall  called  Bennett's  Gate-House,  near 
the  North  Gate  of  the  town. 

4  A  toft  adjoining  and  lying  therefrom,  N.,  to  Uniacke's  lands,  S., 
and  from  the  town-wall,  E.,  to  the  Common-street,  W. 

*  Another    toft    adjoining,    lying    from    Uniacke's    land,    N.,    to 
Copinger's  land,  S.,  and  as  the  preceding,  E.  and  W. 

*A  great  garden  without  the  walls,  not  far  from  the  said  North 
Gate,  lying  from  the  street  called  the  Abbey-land,  N.,  to  the  Common 
Lane,  S.,  and  from  the  highway,  E.,  to  Galway's  lands,  W. 

c  Another  garden  in  the  Church-lane,  extending  to  Uniacke's  lands, 
S.,  and  from  the  Earl  of  Desmond's,  E.,  to  the  College  lands,  W. 

4  A  garden  and  toft  in  the  northern  part  of  Church  Lane,  lying 
from  Collen's  land,  N.,  to  the  Church  lands,  S.,  and  from  Patrick 
Walshe's,  E.,  to  the  Earl  of  Desmond's,  W. 

'A  ruinous  house,  called  Morishe  Geyrie's  House,  and  a  small 
messuage  annexed,  extending  from  Arthure's  lands,  N.  to  Listen's,  S., 
and  from  the  town-wall,  E.,  to  the  street,  W. 


468     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

*  Two  messuages  in  or  near  Key-lane,  extending  from  thence,  N., 
to  Anyas'  lands,  S.  E.,  and  W.  as  before. 

*  A  park  or  close,  lying  between  the  Leper's  House,  the  lands  thereof, 
and  Collen's  park  in  Yoghall. 

*  A  mansion-house  near  the  Castle  of  the  Holy  Trinity  in  Yoghall, 
and  two  other  messuages  with  their  gardens ;  parcel  of  the  estate  of 
Gerald,  Earl  of  Desmond,  attainted.     With  power  to  appoint  a  clerk 
of  the   market,  a   master  of  the  assayes,  and  other  officers,  for   the 
punishment  of  tanners,  brogue-makers,  and  other  artificers  within  the 
premises.      To  hold  the   three    messuages   in   Yoghall,    in   common 
soccage,  and  for  a  rent  of  £4.,  45.  od.  for  a  fine  of  £40  Irish,  and  in 
virtue  of  the  commission  for  the  remedy  of  defective  titles.' 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  extracts  that  various  lands  were 
first  granted  to  Thomond  and  Carew  as  well  as  to  Ralegh,  and  were 
bought  from  the  grantees  by  Boyle. 


APPENDIX     II 

SEPTPARTITE   INDENTURE 

THE  Earl  of  Cork's  great  4  Septpartite  Indenture '  vested  all  the 
Boyle  estates  on  behalf  of  his  sons  in  the  hands  of  four  trustees,  Sir 
William  Parsons,  Sir  William  Fenton,  Sir  John  Browne,  and  Sir  Percy 
Smyth.  The  deed  was  examined  and  approved  by  the  Lord  Deputy, 
and  was  signed  on  the  I4th  of  May  1636. 

The  lands  enumerated  are  scattered  all  over  Ireland :  Cork, 
Waterford,  Meath,  King's  County,  Queen's  County,  Limerick,  Clare, 
Tipperary,  Kerry,  Roscommon,  Mayo,  Sligo,  Dublin,  Kildare,  Wick- 
low,  Wexford,  cand  elsewhere.'  The  daughters  of  Lord  Cork's 
younger  sons  were  to  be  suitably  provided  for,  but  the  land  was 
strictly  entailed  on  male  heirs,  with  all  the  elaborate  precaution  and 
legal  flourishes  that  were  dear  to  our  ceremonious  forefathers.  Lewis, 
Viscount  Kinalmeaky,  Baron  of  Bandon  Bridge,  was  given  the 
estates  in  the  West,  with  Bandon  as  their  capital,  held  of  the  Earl 
of  Cork  on  the  condition  of  rendering  a  horse  yearly  at  Lismore,  and 
that  the  Earl  of  Cork,  the  Lord  Deputy,  or  the  President  of  Munster, 
should  have  power  to  command  the  attendance  of  Baron  Kinalmeaky 
and  twenty  horsemen  for  the  services  of  the  kingdom. 


APPENDIX   II  469 

Lord  Cork  also  bought  a  residence  for  Kinalmeaky  to  occupy  at 
Bandon  as  Governor  of  the  town,  a  new  brick  house  that  had  been 
built  in  Coolfadda  by  their  kinsman,  Mr.  Wiseman,  shortly  before  his 
death,  and  which  his  widow,  one  of  the  Smyths  of  Ballynetra,  was  glad 
to  dispose  of  to  her  uncle,  the  Earl  of  Cork. 

The  castles  over  the  gates  at  Bandon  were  left  under  special  con- 
ditions. Lord  Kinalmeaky  had  the  charge  and  keys  of  Lewis  gate 
and  Cork  gate,  unless  the  Earl  of  Cork,  the  Lord  Deputy,  or  the 
President  of  Munster  came  in  to  those  parts,  when  the  great  man 
might  claim  the  keys  of  Lewis  gate  and  lodging  in  the  castle  over  it. 
Francis  gate  was  left  to  Francis  Boyle  on  the  same  conditions. 

For  an  eastern  residence  for  Kinalmeaky,  Lord  Cork  also  proposed 
to  rebuild  a  ruined  abbey  on  the  outskirts  of  Cork,  that  had  once 
belonged  to  the  Grenville  estates.  Gill  Abbey  was  named  after  its 
founder,  a  seventh  century  abbot,  Gilla  daeda  O'Mugin,  and  must 
have  been  a  stately  pile  in  mediaeval  days,  when  the  monks  boasted  of 
their  broad  gardens,  and  the  salmon  weir  and  mill  on  the  pleasant 
river  Lee,  but  now  all  the  buildings  of  the  abbey  save  the  abbey 
church  had  fallen  into  ruin. 

Lord  Cork  commissioned  his  merchant  friend,  George  Hillier  of 
Bristol,  to  procure  him  cut  stone  from  the  famous  Dundry  quarries 
for  new  building  the  mansion.  The  chimney  pieces,  doors,  and 
windows,  were  shipped  for  Ireland  all  ready  cut,  with  c  twenty  stones 
or  tunnels  of  chimneys,  round,  each  eleven  feet  high,  bases  thirteen 
inches,  stem  clean  and  plain,  the  top  a  finishing  of  four  arches  with 
five  bows,  all  of  one  entire  stone,  costing  twenty-six  shillings  and 
eightpence  each.'  » 

For  Broghill,  the  ruined  castle  from  which  he  took  his  title,  was 
to  be  rebuilt,  and  in  October  1636,  Lord  Cork  sent  two  artists  'to 
take  a  model  of  the  Lord  President's  house  at  Doneraile,  to  make  the 
like  for  my  son  Francis  Boyle,  at  or  near  Carrigaline  or  at  Magnes- 
carews  Court,'  no  doubt  Maigh  Cruim  or  Macroom. 

Broghill's  estates  lay  at  Mallow,  Askeating,  and  Doneraile  ;  for 
them  he  was  to  bring  as  feudal  due  to  Lismore,  a  fair  sword  or  rapier 
and  dagger  every  St.  James  day,  and  to  do  service  with  ten  horsemen. 
Francis  was  given  Carrigaline  and  lands  in  Kerrywherry,  and  was  to 
render  a  pair  of  fair  pistols  yearly  at  Lismore,  and  to  do  service  with 
ten  horsemen.  Robert's  residence  was  to  be  at  Mallow,  and  his  lands 
lay  in  Tipperary  and  Kildare.  He  also  was  to  bring  out  ten  horsemen 
when  called,  and  to  render  a  pair  of  gilt  spurs  at  Lismore  every  year. 


470     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

The  College  House  at  Youghal  had  already  been  settled  on  Lady 
Dungarvan  as  her  dower  house,  and  her  Cumberland  estates  would  give 
her  an  English  home.  For  an  Irish  residence  for  the  young  pair  Lord 
Cork  selected  Mallow,  and  added  to  the  estates  which  he  had  bought 
there  from  Jepson  in  1624,  the  whole  seignory  purchased  from 
St.  Leger  and  Mr.  Bettisworth  for  £15,000.  The  gardens,  orchard 
and  deer-park  covered  150  acres,  and  were  valued  at  £140  yearly, 
and  probably  the  old  Desmond  Castle  was  to  be  restored  for  a  dwelling- 
house. 


APPENDIX    III 

WILL  OF  THE  EARL  OF  CORK 

THE  estates  of  the  Earl  of  Cork  had  been  divided  among  his  sons  by 
the  Septpartite  Conveyance  of  1635;  but  the  death  of  Kinalmeaky 
necessitated  a  new  arrangement,  and  Lord  Cork  drew  up  and  signed  a 
new  will  on  the  4th  of  November  1642. 

The  entreaties  and  councils  which  break  in  with  pathetic  iteration 
upon  the  formal  lists  of  legacies,  and  the  plain-spoken  judgments 
passed  upon  the  kinsfolk  of  whom  he  disapproved,  make  it  plain  that 
the  document  was  written  or  dictated  entirely  by  the  Earl  himself, 
and  that  he  trusted  nothing  to  the  conventional  wording  of  the 
lawyer's  clerk.  The  Bishop  of  Cloyne  is  the  first  witness. 

THE  LAST  WILL  AND  TESTAMENT  OF  RICHARD  BOYLE  THE  FIRST 
EARL  OF  CORKE,  LORD  HIGH-TREASURER  OF  IRELAND. 
IN  THE  NAME  OF  THE  HOLY  AND  BLESSED  TRINITY,  AMEN. 

I,  Sr.  Richard  Boyle  Knight,  Lord  Boyle  Baron  of  Youghall, 
Vicount  of  Dungarvan,  Earl  of  Corke,  Lord  High  Treasurer  of 
Ireland,  One  of  His  Ma'ties  Honble  Privy  Councill  of  the  Kingdoms 
of  England  and  Ireland,  Being  infirm  in  Body,  but  in  sound  and 
perfect  Memory,  Taking  into  my  due  Consideration  the  Uncertainty 
of  Life  and  the  Certainty  of  Death,  It  being  in  the  Pleasure  of 
Almighty  God,  for  the  settling  of  such  Worldly  Estate  which  it  hath 
pleased  God  in  His  Mercy  plentifully  to  bless  me  withall,  DO  hereby 
Revoke,  Disanull,  and  Declare  all  former  Wills  and  Testaments  by 


APPENDIX   III  471 

me  heretofore  made  and  all  and  every  Act  Clause  or  Thing  with  the 
Devise  Grant  or  Bequest  of  any  my  Lands,  Gifts,  or  Legacys  in  them 
or  in  any  of  them  Contained  or  Mentioned  to  be  Devised,  Granted,  or 
Bequeathed  to  any  of  my  Sons,  Grand  Children,  or  any  other  Person 
or  Persons  whatsoever,  with  all  and  Singular  the  Declarations  of  Uses 
or  Limitations  over  for  the  Disposition  of  any  of  my  Manners, 
Castles,  Lands,  Tenements,  and  Hereditaments  or  Hereditary  Profits 
Mortgages  or  Leases  in  them  or  in  any  of  them  Limitted  Expressed 
or  Declared  to  be  utterly  void,  Frustrate  and  of  no  Effect  in  Law  and 
do  make  and  ordain  This  to  be  my  Last  Will  and  Testament  to  be 
only  in  Force  and  Effectual  in  manner  and  form  following.  FIRST  I 
bequeath  and  humbly  Commend  my  Soul  to  Almighty  God  my  Maker, 
and  his  only  begotten  Son  my  Sole  Saviour  Jesus  Christ  confidently 
believing  that  thro'  his  Death,  Passion,  Merits  and  Mediation  all  my 
Sins  are  forgiven  and  washed  away  by  the  Shedding  of  his  most 
Precious  and  Innocent  Blood,  that  his  Sufferings  are  Satisfaction  for 
them,  and  that  by  his  Glorious  Resurrection  and  Ascension  I  shall  be 
Raised  again  from  Death  and  glorified  in  his  Heavenly  Kingdom, 
amongst  the  Angels  and  Blessed  Saints  Everlastingly,  and  into  the 
hands  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  being  well  assured  that  nothing  can  perish 
or  be  Lost,  that  is  Committed  and  willingly  Yielded  up  unto  the  Holy 
Blessed  and  Individual  Trinity  to  Whom  I  willingly  and  Joyfully 
Surrender  as  their  due  my  Mortal  Body  and  Immortal  Soul  to  be  both 
Glorified  in  Heaven  as  by  my  Faith  and  Confidence  I  undoubtedly 
trust  they  shall  be.  And  as  for  my  Body,  as  it  came  whole  into  the 
World,  So  I  charge  my  Extors,  Children  and  friends  that  it  may  be 
decently  and  privately  buryed  whole  without  any  Bowelling  or  Divid- 
ing and  without  unnecessary  Pompe  or  Ceremonys,  and  my  Funerals 
to  be  after  Solemnized  (as  my  late  Wife's  were)  honourably  and 
Decently  suitable  to  my  Estate  and  Degree,  and  as  it  is  made  of 
Earth,  So  it  may  be  Returned  into  Earth  without  too  much  of  Glorious 
Shews  or  Funeral  Offices,  And  if  God  shall  call  me  to  his  Mercy  in  or 
near  Dublin,  It  is  my  Desire  that  my  Body  be  Buryed  (as  before)  in 
the  Vault  of  my  new  Tomb  erected  over  my  last  Dear  Deceased 
Wife  in  the  Chancell  of  St.  Patrick's  Church  in  Dublin,  But  if  God 
shall  call  me  out  of  this  World  in  Munster,  then  it  is  my  Will  that 
my  Corps  be  Interr'd  with  my  Eldest  Brother  Dr.  John  Boyle  late 
Bishop  of  Corke,  Cloyne  and  Ross,  and  my  good  Mother-in-Law  the 
Good  Lady  Fenton  in  my  Vault  in  my  Chappell  and  Tomb  In 
Youghall  Church  ;  but  if  I  shall  be  in  England  when  God  shall  call 


472     LIFE  OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

me  out  of  this  Vale  of  Misery,  It  is  my  Will  that  my  Body  be  Buried 
in  manner  aforesaid  in  the  Chancell  of  the  Parish  Church  of  Preston 
near  Feversham  in  Kent  under  the  Tomb  that  I  erected  there  for  my 
Deceased  Father  and  Mother  who  both  lye  there.  And  forasmuch  as 
by  my  former  Will  bearing  Date  the  last  day  of  January  Ann.  Dom. 
1637  which  was  then  by  me  duly  perfected  I  bequeathed  that  in  case 
my  Second  Son  Sr.  Lewis  Boyle  Kn*.  Lord  Baron  of  Bandonbridge 
and  Lord  Viscount  Boyle  of  Kinalmeakie  should  depart  this  World  in 
my  Life-time  or  without  Heirs  of  his  Body  lawfully  begotten,  That 
then  so  much  of  my  White  plate  and  Silver  Vessells  whereupon  my 
said  Son  Lewis  his  Arms  with  a  Crescent  distinguishing  it  to  be  made 
for  my  Second  Son,  and  whereon  a  Viscount  Corronet  is  engraved, 
should  descend  unto  my  Son  Sr.  Roger  Boyle  Kn*.  Lord  Boyle  Baron 
of  Broghill  NOW  in  pursuance  of  my  said  former  bequest,  Seeing  it 
hath  pleased  God  to  take  away  out  of  this  Life  my  said  Second  Son  the 
Lord  Viscount  Kinalmeakie  myself  Surviving  him,  I  do  hereby  Give 
Legate  and  Bequeath,  All  that  Plate  and  Silver  Vessells  so  engraven 
and  marked  as  aforesaid  unto  my  said  Son  Sr.  Roger  Boyle,  Kn*.  Lord 
Boyle,  Baron  of  Broghill.  AND  WHEREAS  I  have  by  Indenture  Septi- 
partite  bearing  date  the  fourteenth  day  of  May  Anno  Dom:  1636 
made  between  me  and  Sr.  William  Parsons,  Sr.  William  Fenton  Sr. 
Percy  Smith  and  Sr.  John  Brown  Knts.  my  Feoffees  of  Trust  con- 
veyed assigned  and  limitted  certain  Mannors,  Religious  Houses,  Lands, 
Tenements  and  Hereditaments  To  the  use  of  my  four  Younger  Sons 
Sr.  Lewis  Lord  Viscount  of  Kinalmeakie  since  deceased,  Sr.  Roger 
Boyle  Kn*.  Lord  Boyle  Baron  of  Broghill,  Frances  and  Robert  Boyle 
with  power  of  Revocation  and  Alteration  of  the  old,  and  Limittations 
of  new  uses  and  Estates,  as  by  the  said  Deed  more  at  large  appeareth 
AND  WHEREAS  It  hath  pleased  God  of  his  great  mercy  and  Goodness, 
Since  the  Acknowledgment  of  my  Several  Fines  and  making  my  first 
Separtite  Conveyances  of  my  Lands  and  Inheritance  to  the  Lord 
Esmond,  Sr.  William  Parsons,  Sr.  Richard  Bolton  and  other  my  Noble 
Friends  in  the  said  Fines  and  Conveyances  named  and  expressed, 
which  Conveyances  were  dated  on  or  about  the  first  day  of  March 
Anno  Dom.  1624,  to  bless  me  with  life  and  opportunity  to  purchase 
some  other  Lands,  Tenements  and  Hereditaments,  Mortgages  and 
Leases,  and  to  make  some  enlargement  and  Addition  to  the  Estate  I 
then  had,  as  also  to  bless  me  with  another  Young  Son  called  Robert 
Boyle,  who  was  not  then  in  being,  for  which  youngest  son  of  mine  I 
neither  then  did  or  could  make  any  Good  or  certain  Provision  of 


APPENDIX   III  473 

Livelihood,  for  which  Reasons  and  other  Considerations  me  thereunto 
moving,  and  especially  to  enable  me  to  make  such  a  Joynture  to  my 
Son  Dungarvan's  Lady  the  Daughter  of  the  Lord  Clifford  now  Earl 
of  Cumberland,  as  upon  the  Conclusion  of  that  marriage  by  Articles 
and  Covenants  with  the  Lord  Wentworth  then  Lord  Deputy  of  Ire- 
land and  others,  I  was  bound  to  do,  I  have  according  to  the  Provisoes 
and  Conditions  in  the  said  Separtite  Deed,  Revoked  my  sd.  separtite 
Deed,  and  disannulled  and  made  void  all  the  Uses,  Estates,  Limitations 
over  Provisoes,  and  other  Grants,  in  the  said  Separtite  Deed  comprized, 
and  also  do  by  these  presents  utterly  Revoke  and  Disannull  the  former 
Estates,  and  all  Intents  and  Uses  thereby  and  therein  granted,  Limitted 
or  declared,  and  do  by  these  presents  in  pursuance  of  the  power  in  the 
said  separtite  Deed,  left  and  Reserved  unto  me  and  as  an  addition  and 
Increase  of  the  Estate  then  granted  and  limitted  unto  him  and  to  his 
use,  Devise,  Will,  Legate  and  Bequeath  to  my  now  Second  Son  Sr. 
Roger  Boyle  Kn*.  Lord  Boyle  Baron  of  Broghill,  the  Castle  Town 
Mills  and  Lands  of  Ballicolly,  alias  Ballycollipoe  in  the  County  of 
Limerick  which  I  purchased  for  Three  hundred  and  Sixty  Pounds 
Ster.  of  Morrice  Supple  and  others  since  the  making  of  my  said 
Separtite  Deed  which  with  the  Manner  of  Broghill  and  Rathgoggan 
and  the  Lands  of  Liscolane  and  all  other  my  Manners  Towns  Villages 
Rectory  Tyths  Advowsons,  Presentations  Lands  Tenements  and 
Hereditaments  Mortgages  Leases  and  all  other  Hereditary  Profits 
whatsoever  which  I  have  or  shall  have  in  the  County  of  Limerick  and 
Kerry  Except  the  Mortgages  which  I  have  from  Sr.  Hards.  Waller 
and  his  Lady  and  Sr.  Percy  Smith  Knights,  of  the  Parsonage  of  Adair 
als.  Athdare,  and  the  Town  and  Lands  of  Cloghrane  and  Cloghne- 
gownagh  hereafter  given  and  bequeathed  to  my  Son  Robert  Boyle. 
ITEM  as  an  Addition  to  the  Mannors  Lands  and  Tenements  that  my 
said  Separtite  Deed  conveyed  to  my  said  Feoffees  in  Trust  for  and  to 
ye  use  of  my  said  Son  Sr.  Roger  Boyle  Kn*.  Lord  Boyle,  Baron  of 
Broghill,  I  do  hereby  Give,  Grant,  Legate  and  bequeath  unto  him  the 
Manner  of  Marston  als.  Marston  Bigood  with  the  Rights  members 
and  Appurtenances  thereunto  belonging  Situate  in  the  County  of 
Somerset  in  the  Realm  of  England,  which  I  purchased  of  Sr.  John 
Eppesley  and  Sr.  Thomas  Fotherly  Knts.  and  Gabriel  Eppesly  Esq 
for  Ten  Thousand  Three  Hundred  and  fifty  pounds  English, 
Together  with  all  those  my  Messuages,  Houses,  Buildings,  Edi- 
fices, Gardens  and  Orchards,  Lands,  Tenements  and  Hereditaments, 
in  the  City  of  Dublin  wch  sometimes  were  his  Grandfather's 


474     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 

Sr.  Jeffrey  Fenton  Knl  His  Mat'ys  Principal  Secretary  of  Ireland  and 
which  I  purchased  from  His  Son  and  Heir  Sr.  William  Fenton  Knl. 
my  Brother-in-Law  and  others,  and  are  now  in  Lease  from  me  to 
Robert  Gilbert  the  Pursivant  at  one  Hundred  Marks  per  Annum, — 
And  also  that  the  late  Abbey,  Monastery  or  Religious  House  called 
St.  Francis  Abbey,  near  ye  North  Gate  of  the  City  of  Corke  with  all 
messuages,  Houses,  Edifices,  Buildings,  Towns,  Villages,  Lands,  Mills, 
Fishings,  Tyths  and  all  other  Rights,  Members  and  Appurtenances, 
to  the  said  Abbey  belonging,  And  also  all  those  the  Towns,  Lands, 
Tyths,  and  other  Hereditaments  called  or  known  by  the  Name  or 
Names  of  Knocknehenny  the  Killeens  and  Killnegannanagh  als. 
Channanstown  with  their  Tyths  and  Appurtenances,  containing  by 
Estimation  three  Plow  Lands  and  half,  being  parcell  of  the  possessions 
of  the  late  Dissolved  Religious  House  of  Gill  als.  Gill  Abbey  als. 
Monasterium  de  Antro  St.  Finbarry  prope  Corke,  now  or  late  in  the 
Tenure  of  or  Occupacon  of  John  Gratrikes  Gent,  or  his  assigns  And 
also  that  the  Castle  or  Port  in  the  Town  and  Wall  of  Bandonbridge 
called  Lewis  his  Gate,  Leading  towards  the  Barony  of  Colbry  with 
Ten  acres  of  Ground  to  be  laid  out  near  and  contiguous  to  the  said 
Castle  TO  HAVE  AND  TO  HOLD  all  and  singular  the  Premises  with  all 
and  every  the  Appurtenances  whatsoever  hereby  devised,  granted, 
willed,  or  bequeathed,  or  mentioned,  to  be  devised,  granted,  willed, 
or  Bequeathed,  to  my  said  Son  Sr.  Roger  Boyle  Kn*.  Lord  Boyle, 
Baron  of  Broghill,  for  and  during  the  Term  of  his  natural  Life, 
without  Impeachment  of  Strip  or  Waste,  and  after  his  Decease  to  ye 
first  Issue  Male  of  his  Body  lawfully  begotten  and  to  the  Heirs  Males 
of  the  Body  of  such  his  first  Issue  Male  of  his  Body  lawfully  begotten 
with  such  further  and  other  Remainders  and  Limitations  over  of  Uses 
and  Estates  as  by  my  said  Deed  Septipartite  dated  on  or  about  ye  said 
fourteenth  day  of  May  Anno  Dom:  1636  in  and  upon  the  Manner  of 
Broghill  thereby  conveyed  unto  him  are  limitted  mentioned  and 
expressed. 

WHEREAS  to  prevent  Inconveniences  to  my  noble  Son-in-Law  the 
late  Earl  of  Barrymore  and  at  his  Lordship's  and  my  dear  Daughter 
his  Lady's  request,  I  have  disbursed  and  paid  in  ready  money  to  Sr. 
William  Sarsfield  Kn*.  now  Lord  Viscount  of  Killmallock  the  Sum 
of  Twelve  Hundred  Pounds  currant  and  Lawfull  Money  of  and  in 
England,  for  which  sum  of  Money  the  Castle  and  Lands  of  Bellvelly 
in  ye  County  of  Corke  rented  to  Peter  Courthorp  Esq:  for  Sixty 
pounds  English  per  Annum  or  thereabouts,  and  the  Castle  Town  and 


APPENDIX   III  475 

Lands  of  Inchinebackie  in  the  said  County  of  Corke  rented  to  Captain 
Halse  Deceased  for  Seventy-five  pounds  English  money  or  thereabouts 
per  Annum  are  assigned  unto  me  my  Heirs  and  Assigns,  (Vizt.)  by  my 
computation  and  this  my  division,  Six  hundred  pounds  thereof  upon 
the  Mortgage  of  Balvelly  and  the  other  Six  hundred  pounds  upon  the 
Mortgage  of  Inchinebackie  aforesaid,  the  whole  Rents  and  Profits  of 
wch.  Lands  since  my  payment  of  the  said  Twelve  hundred  pounds 
have  been  by  me  freely  bestowed  upon  my  said  Daughter,  who  by 
the  Hands  of  my  Receiver  John  Walley  Esq  hath  been  half-yearly 
paid  the  same  as  it  hath  half-yearly  been  brought  into  my  Receipt. 
AND  WHEREAS  to  prevent  the  coming  of  a  Great  and  powerfull  man 
into  the  Town  of  Carrick  Tohill  and  the  Burgesses  and  Burgage 
Lands  Grounds  and  Fields  thereabouts  that  might  be  offensive  and 
prove  an  unpleasing  Neighbour  to  the  said  late  Earl  of  Barrimore 
(which  was  strongly  endeavoured),  and  I  having  a  purpose  to  make  ye 
said  Town  of  Carrick  Tohill  intire  of  my  said  late  Son-in-Law  and 
my  said  Daughter  and  the  Heirs  of  their  two  Bodys  begotten,  have  to 
that  End  Disbursed  in  ready  money  other  five  hundred  pounds  Sterling 
lawfull  English  Money  and  therewith  purchased  to  me  and  my  Heirs 
for  ever  an  absolute  Estate  in  Fee  Simple  of  ye  Several  Burgages  and 
Burgage  Lands,  Tenements  and  Hereditaments  in  and  near  the  Town 
and  Fields  of  Carrick  Tohill  aforesaid  and  of  the  Town  and  Lands  of 
Ballylonge  near  the  same  from  the  Newtons  and  Terries  who  were  ye 
Ancient  Founders,  Inheritors,  and  Freeholders,  thereof,  and  moreover 
at  ye  earnest  request  of  the  said  late  Earl  of  Barrymore  and  his  Lady 
my  Daughter  and  for  their  Debt,  I  have  lately  and  intirely  paid  unto 
Sr.  Robert  Tynt  Kn*.  the  full  sum  of  One  thousand  Seven  Hundred 
thirty-three  pounds  currant  English  money,  and  have  likewise  supplyed 
the  said  late  Earl  of  Barrymore  with  the  Sum  of  Seven  hundred  Sixty- 
Seven  pounds  English  for  the  Re-edifying  and  new  building  of  his 
decayed  Manor  House  of  Castle  Lyons,  making  in  both,  the  intire 
sume  of  two  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  English  by  me  as  aforesd. 
in  Ready  Money  disbursed  for  wch.  the  sd.  late  Earl  and  Garrett 
Myagh  his.  surviving  Feoffee  have  Conveyed  to  me  and  my  Heirs  a 
condiconal  Estate  in  Fee  of  the  sd.  Castle,  Town,  Manor,  Lands,  and 
Mills,  of  Barrie's  Court,  and  the  three  Plow  Lands  thereunto  belonging 
for  payment  of  the  sd.  Two  thousand  five  hundred  pounds  English, 
wch.  said  Mannor  of  Barries  Court  with  the  appurtenances,  the  said 
late  Earl  of  Barrymore  and  myself  have  leased  to  Edward  Morley, 
Oliver  Parsons,  Henry  Parr  at  ye  Rent  of  Two  Hundred  Pounds 


476     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Sterling  per  Annum,  payable  unto  me  my  Heirs  and  assigns  untill 
Redemption.  Now  it  is  my  will  and  pleasure  and  I  DO  hereby  devise, 
will  legate  and  bequeath  unto  my  Third  Son  Francis  Boyle  the  said 
Mannor  of  Barrie's  Court  with  all  the  Castles,  Lands,  Tenements, 
and  Hereditaments  thereunto  belonging  and  the  said  Castle  Town  and 
Lands  of  Belvelly,  and  all  the  moneys  for  which  they  were  mortgaged 
unto  me  and  my  Heirs  or  assigns  as  also  the  Burgage,  or  Burgage 
Land  in  Carrick  Tohill  aforesd.  and  the  Town  and  Lands  of  Ballylonge 
wch.  I  purchased  from  ye  Newtons  and  Terries  absolutely,  in  Fee 
Simple  as  is  beforesaid  TO  HAVE  AND  TO  HOLD  the  aforesaid  Mannor  of 
Barrie's  Court  and  the  Castle  Town  and  Lands  of  Belvelly  and  the 
Burgages  and  Burgage  Lands  of  Ballylonge  aforesaid  unto  the  said 
Francis  Boyle  during  his  natural  life,  without  Impeachment  of  Strip 
or  Waste,  and  after  his  Decease  to  his  first  Issue  Male  of  his  Body 
lawfully  Begotten  and  the  Heirs  Male  of  the  Body  of  such  his  first 
Issue  Male  Lawfully  to  be  begotten  with  the  like  and  such  other 
Remainders  and  Limittation  over  of  Estates  as  the  Mannor  of 
Cargaline  als.  Bover  and  other  Lands,  in  and  by  the  said  Septipartite 
Deed  appointed  to  the  said  Francis  are  limitted,  expressed,  and 
declared. 

It  is  my  Will  that  if  the  now  Earl  of  Barrimore  my  Grand  Child 
or  the  Heirs  Males  of  his  Body  lawfully  to  be  begotten  or  any  other 
the  Heirs  Males  of  ye  Body  of  David  late  Earl  of  Barrymore  and  my 
said  Daughter's  shall  pay  unto  my  said  Son  Francis  or  the  Heirs  Males 
of  his  Body  lawfully  begotten  or  others  in  Remainder  the  full  Sum  of 
five  hundred  pounds  Sterling  that  upon  due  payment  thereof  the  aforesd. 
Burgages  and  Burgage  Lands  in  Carrick  Tohill  and  the  aforesd. 
Town  and  Lands  of  Ballylonge  shall  remain  and  be  to  ye  use  of  ye 
now  Earl  of  Barrimore  and  the  Heirs  Males  of  his  Body  lawfully 
begotten  or  other  the  Heirs  Males  of  ye  Body  of  ye  said  David  late 
Earl  of  Barrymore  and  my  said  Daughter  his  Lady. 

THEN  I  devise  Will  Legate  and  bequeath  to  my  said  Son  Francis 
all  my  Lands  and  Tenement  which  upon  my  payment  of  four  hundred 
pounds  English  I  have  lately  purchased  to  me  and  my  Heirs  from 
Thomas  Barry  Fitz  James  Gent:  and  Thomas  Martell  of  Corke  Aldn. 
or  both  or  either  (R.  CORKE)  or  either  of  them  in  Bally  Vologhan, 
Carricktobin,  Killnestoole,  and  Ballida  in  ye  Barony  of  Barrimore  and 
County  of  Corke,  or  which  I  shall  hereafter  have  in  the  said  Lands 
under  Such  Conditions  as  are,  or  shall  be  mentioned,  in  the  Deeds  and 
assurances  of  these  Lands  to  me  made  or  to  be  made  of  the  last 


APPENDIX   III  477 

Recited  Premises,  and  also  all  other  my  Manners,  Lands,  Tenements, 
Hereditaments  and  Hereditary  Profits,  Mortgages,  and  Leases,  as  I 
now  have,  or  at  the  time  of  my  Decease  shall  have,  or  any  other 
Person  or  Persons  are  or  shall  be  Seized  of  Estated  in,  to  the  use  of 
me,  my  Heirs  or  assigns,  of  and  in  the  Several  Baronys  or  Canthreds 
of  Kirrycurricky,  Kinalla  and   Coursi's  Country,  by  what  name  or 
Names  they  or  all  or  any  of  them  be  distinguished  or  known,  Situate 
in   the  County  of  Corke.     ITEM  as  an  addition   to  those  Manners 
Lands  and  Tenements   Hereditaments  and   Hereditary   Profits,   that 
hereby  and  by  my  Septipartite  Deed  I  conveyed  to  my  said  Feoffees 
In  trust  for  and  to  the  use  of  my  said  Son  Francis  Boyle,  I  do  hereby 
give,  grant,  legate,  and  bequeath,  unto  him  the  said  Francis,  ALL 
that  the   Mannor  and   Land  of  Corbenny   with   the  Appurtenances 
in  the   Barony  of  Kirrycurricky   in   the   County  of  Corke  now   in 
the    possession    of   my    nephew    Roger    Power   or    his    assigns   with 
the   Rents   and   Reversions    thereof,  and    also    all    that    my  Mannor 
calkd    and    known    by    the    Name  of  Ballymodan  als.   Ballybandon 
als.  Clogh   McSimon  Fleming,  situate   near    Bandonbridge,  and    all 
the   Lands,  Tenements,   Mills,  Waters,   Water    Courses,   Meadows, 
Pastures,  Woods,  Underwoods,  and  other  Appurtenances  thereunto 
belonging  which  do  not  Exceed,  or  are  within  the  Walls  of  Bandon- 
bridge aforesaid,  and  also  the  Town  and  Lands  of  Kill  Me.  Simon  and 
Annish  Roe  with  the  Mill,  Wears,  Parks,  and   Park  called  Garren 
Uragher,  and  all  other  the  Lands,  Tenements,  and   Hereditaments, 
conveyed  unto  me  and  my  Heirs  by  John  Fleming   Gent,  situate  in 
the  County  of  Corke,  And  also  all  those  Two  Messuages  situate  in 
Castle  Street  in  the  City  of  Dublin,  with  all  the  Gardens,  Backsides, 
Shops,  Cellars,  Ways,  Easements,   Passages,   Comodities    unto    them 
belonging  now  or  late  in  ye  Tenure  or  Occupation  of  Thomas  Cole, 
Taylor,  and  Zachary  Shortred,  Upholster,  with  the  Rents  and  Rever- 
sions of  them,  and  also  all  that  my  Capital  Messuage  Barton  Park  of 
Annery,  and  all  the  Buildings,  Edifices,  Orchards,  Gardens,  Hopyards, 
Lands,  Tenements,  Meadows,  Pastures,  Woods,  Underwoods,  Rivers, 
Waters,  Wears,  Fishings,  Hereditaments  and  Hereditary  Profits  what- 
soever thereunto  belonging  situate  in  the  Parish  of  Monckleigh  in  ye 
County  of  Devon   in    England,    which    I    lately    purchased   of  Jno. 
Arscott  and   Robert  Jason  Esq:  for  ^5000  Ster:  and  which   I  have 
leased  to  one  Hartwell  for  or  about  £270  English  per  Annum ;  and 
also   all    that    my   Right,  Title,  Interest,  Reversions,   or   Reversion 
Estate,    and    Demand   which    I    purchased   of  my  Noble    Friend   Sr. 


478     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Thomas  Stafford  Icn*.  for  £2000  English  of,  in,  and  unto,  ye  Manner 
ofSaltcombe  with  ye  appurtenances,  in  the  County  of  Devon,  with 
all  the  Castles,  Houses,  Buildings,  Edifices,  Lands,  Tenements, 
Hereditaments,  Woods,  Underwoods,  Wears,  Fishings,  Rents,  Rever- 
sions, Services  or  Hereditary  Profits  whatsoever  thereunto  belonging, 
as  also  of  in  and  unto  ye  Rectory  or  Parsonage  of  Halberton  with 
the  Glebe  Barns,  Tyths,  Sheaf  and  Appurtenances  thereunto  belong- 
ing, in  the  said  County  of  Devon,  which  Manner  ofSaltcombe  and 
Rectory  of  Halberton  the  said  Sir  Thomas  Stafford  by  my  direction 
and  appointment  did  convey  over  in  Revercon  after  his  own  and  his 
now  Lady's  Death,  to  John  Nayler  of  Grays  Inn  Esq:  and  William 
Hackwell  the  Younger  of  Lincolns  Inn  Esq:  to  the  use  of  me,  my 
Heire,  Extors,  or  assigns,  and  I  do  now  by  these  presents  give,  legate, 
and  bequeath,  all  my  Reversion  or  Reversions,  Interest,  Right,  Title, 
Estate  and  Demand,  of,  in,  and  unto,  the  said  Manner  of  Sal tcombe, 
with  the  appurtenances  and  Rectory  and  Parsonage  of  Halberton,  with 
the  Sheaf  and  other  profits  thereunto  belonging,  to  my  said  Son  Francis 
Boyle,  praying  and  authorizing  the  said  Jno.  Nayler  and  William 
Hackwell  the  Younger  to  see  them  legally  conveyed  over  unto  him 
the  said  Francis  according  to  the  Trust  I  reposed  in  them  TO  HAVE 
AND  TO  HOLD  all  and  singular  ye  premises  with  all  and  every  of  their 
appurtenances  whatsoever  hereby  devised,  granted,  willed  or  Bequeathed 
or  menconed  to  be  devised,  granted,  willed  or  Bequeathed,  to  my  said 
Son  Francis  Boyle  during  his  natural  life,  without  Impeachment  of 
Strip  or  Waste,  and  after  his  Decease  to  the  first  Issue  Male  of  his 
Body  lawfully  begotten,  and  to  the  Heirs  Male  of  the  Body  of  such 
his  first  Issue  Male  lawfully  begotten  wth.  such  further  and  other 
Remainders  and  Limittations  of  Uses  and  Estates  as  by  my  Septipartite 
Deed  dated  on  or  about  the  sd  I4th  day  of  May  Anno  Dom:  1636  are 
limitted  and  Expressed  for  the  Beaver  als.  Cargaline,  if  ye  Condiconal 
Estates,  Mortgages  and  Leases  respectively,  do  so  long  continue  and 
be  in  Force  provided  always.  And  my  Will  is,  for  that  I  have  been 
cordially  desired  ye  Restitution  and  Recovery  of  the  Earl  of  Barrimore's 
noble  and  anciently  Honble  House,  that  his  Posterity  may  raise  ye 
same  to  its  former  Lustre  and  Greatness  again,  and  in  regard  (that  in 
my  Judgment)  there  is  no  way  so  likely  and  probable  (God  blessing 
it)  to  redeem  and  bring  home  the  Incumbred  and  disjointed  Estate  of 
the  said  Earl  and  his  House,  and  Posterity,  as  by  giving  a  Noble, 
Virtuous  and  Religious,  Education  to  the  said  now  young  Earl  my 
Grand  Child,  who  by  good  Honoble  Breeding  may  (by  God's  Grace) 


APPENDIX   III  479 

either  by  the  favour  of  his  Prince,  or  by  his  Service  to  his  King  and 
Country,  or  a  good  Marriage,  redeem  and  bring  home  that  ancient  and 
honble  House  which  upon  the  Marriage  of  my  Daughter  unto  the  late 
Earl  I  did  with  my  own  Money  freely  clear,  I  do  hereby  for  his 
Lordship's  better  Maintenance  and  accommodation  in  ye  premises, 
devise  grant  and  bequeath  unto  my  said  Grand  Child  Richard,  now 
Earl  of  Barrimore,  or  from  the  time  of  my  Decease  for  and  during  and 
untill  he  shall  attain  unto  ye  full  age  of  Two  and  Twenty  years,  one 
yearly  annuity  or  Annual  Rent  of  Two  Hundred  Pounds  Curr*. 
Money  of  and  in  England,  to  be  levyed  and  paid  to  His  Lordship  or 
his  assigns  half  yearly  by  even  and  equal  portions  at  May  Day  and  All 
Saints  or  within  forty  days  next  after  any  of  the  said  Feasts,  by  my 
said  Son  Francis,  his  Heirs  or  Assigns,  out  of  the  Rents,  Issues  and 
Profits,  of  All  and  every  the  Manners,  Castles,  Towns,  and  Lands, 
Tenements,  Hereditaments,  and  Hereditary  Profits,  Situate,  lying,  and 
being,  within  the  County  of  Corke,  by  me  as  above  bequeathed 
granted  or  conveyed  to  my  said  son  Francis  or  to  his  use,  and  upon 
my  said  son's  Failure  of  Payment  of  ye  said  Annuity  or  yearly  Stipend 
or  Allowance  at  any  ye  aforesd  Feasts  and  the  forty  days  next  after  any 
of  them,  that  then  I  do  hereby  give  and  grant  unto  the  said  Earl  or 
his  assigns  full  power  to  Distrain  for  the  same  or  such  part  thereof  as 
shall  be  behind  and  unpaid  upon  any  of  ye  lands  Tenements  or  Heredita- 
ments within  ye  said  County  of  Corke  and  ye  same  to  Impound  and 
detain  untill  ye  said  Annuity  or  such  part  thereof  as  then  shall  be 
behind  shall  be  duly  satisfied  and  paid  anything  before  limitted  willed 
or  bequeathed  to  my  said  Son  Francis  Boyle  or  the  Heirs  Male  of  his 
Body  to  the  Contrary  notwithstanding.  ITEM  as  an  Addition  and 
Confirmation  of  all  those  Hereditaments  and  other  things  Conveyed  to 
my  youngest  Son  Robert  Boyle  by  my  aforesaid  Septipartite  Deed,  I 
do  hereby  devise  will  legate  and  bequeath  unto  my  sd  youngest  Son 
Robert  Boyle  all  and  every  my  Manners,  Castles,  dissolved  Abbeys, 
Monasterys,  and  late  Religious  Houses,  Rectorys,  Tyths,  Advowsons, 
Donations,  Patronages,  Presentations,  Rivers,  Ferries,  Islands,  Wears, 
Fishings,  Franchises,  Court  Barons,  Court  Leets,  Benefits  of  Courts, 
Fairs,  Markets,  Mills,  Towns,  Villages,  Lands,  Tenements,  Rents, 
Reversions,  Services,  Rights  of  Entrys  and  all  other  Hereditaments 
and  Hereditary  Profits,  Commoditys,  Royaltys,  and  advantages  what- 
soever, and  all  Mortgages,  Leases,  Estates  for  years  either  in  possession 
or  Reversion  or  Remainder  or  that  any  other  or  others  to  my  use  are 
or  ought  to  be  possessed  or  seized  of  or  shall  may  or  can  have  or  here- 


480     LIFE  OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

after  be  estated  in  or  shall  be  seized  or  possessed  of  in  the  province  of 
Connaugh,  which  before  these  Troubles  were  Rented  at  about  four 
Hundred  and  fifty  pounds  English  per  Annum,  and  in  the  King's 
County  and  Queen's  County,  and  which  before  these  Troubles  were 
Rented  at  about  Two  Hundred  and  forty  pounds  English  per  Annum, 
the  County  or  Countys  of  Tipperary  and  Cross  Tipperary  which 
before  the  said  Troubles  were  rented  at  about  four  Hundred  and  fifty 
pounds  English  per  annum,  The  Manners,  Lands,  Tenements  or 
Hereditaments  in  the  Countys  of  Clare  and  Wexford  which  yielded  in 
good  Rents  before  these  Troubles  about  Two  Hundred  and  forty  Six 
pounds  English  per  annum,  and  in  all  every  or  any  of  the  said  Countys 
and  also  all  that  the  Abbey,  Monastery  or  late'  Dissolved  Religious 
House  of  Fermoy,  als  Fermoy,  als  Ardmoy,  with  all  the  Rights, 
Members,  and  Appurtenances,  thereunto  belonging  or  appertaining, 
Situate  in  the  County  of  Corlce,  rented  before  these  Troubles  at  about 
four  Hundred  and  fifty  pounds  per  Annum,  and  also  all  that  late 
dissolved  Abbey  or  Religious  House  of  Castle  Lyons  als  Castle 
Oleghane,  with  their  and  every  of  their  Rights,  Members  and  appur- 
tenances as  well  Spiritual  as  Temporal  by  what  Names,  Titles  or 
Incorporations  soever  they  were  or  are  named,  called,  known  or  dis- 
tinguished, Rented  before  these  troubles  at  Twenty  pounds  Sterling 
per  Annum,  with  all  the  Manners,  late  Religious  Houses,  Buildings, 
Towns,  Villages,  Hamlets,  Lands,  Tenements,  Rents,  Reversions, 
Services,  Rectorys,  Tyths,  Hereditaments,  and  Hereditary  Profits, 
whatsoever  to  the  said  Two  Several  Abbeys,  Monasterys  or  late 
dissolved  Religious  Houses,  or  to  both  or  either,  or  any  of  them 
respectively,  now  or  any  time  heretofore  belonging  or  appertaining, 
Situate  lying  and  being  in  the  said  County  of  Corke,  and  also  the 
Castle  Town  and  Lands  of  Inchinebacky  in  mortgage  to  me  for  £600 
Sterling  and  now  in  the  Tenure  or  possession  of  Thomas  Badnege  Esq: 
rented  before  these  Troubles  for  Seventy  five  pounds  Sterling  per 
Annum  And  also  all  these  Lands  Tenements  and  Hereditaments 
called  Twormore  now  in  possession  or  occupation  of  ye  Widow  Smith, 
Rented  at  ^28  Sterling  per  Annum,  and  also  ye  Town  and  Lands  of 
Bailygowne  rented  at  £6.  13.  4d.  per  Annum  And  also  all  ye  Town 
and  Lands  of  Bailygowne  rented  at  ^6.  13.  4d.  per  Annum,  And 
also  all  ye  Town  and  Lands  of  Ballycloghie  now  or  late  in  the 
Possession  of  Richard  Condon,  rented  at  £8  per  Annum,  And  also  all 
those  Lands,  Tenements,  and  Hereditaments  in  Ballynehaur,  Nock- 
maple  and  Nockdrumcloghie,  now  or  late  in  the  Several  Tenures  and 


APPENDIX    III  481 

Possessions  of  Honora  Barry  als  Condon  Widow,  Morris  Condon 
Deced.  and  William  Condon,  now  rented  at  four  Shillings  per  Annum 
and  in  Reversion  at  higher  rates,  And  also  the  Chief  Rent  of  Twenty 
Ounces  of  Silver  Issuing  out  of  the  Territory  of  Aghagreenagh  als 
Killbarry,  And  also  all  those  Lands  called  Bosnebrun  in  the  Tenure  of 
John  Forster  or  his  assigns,  rented  at  four  pounds  per  Annum,  And 
also  all  those  Lands,  Tenements  and  Hereditaments  called  or  known 
by  the  Name  of  Ballytowran  and  Glenerush  mortgaged  unto  me  or  to 
my  use  for  a  Thousand  pounds  Sterling,  now  in  the  tenure  of  Peter 
Courthorpe  Esq:  or  his  assigns,  rented  at  j£ioo  Sterling  per  Annum, 
And  also  all  ye  Town  and  Lands  of  Ballymoriogh  mortgaged  unto  me 
for  ^£200  Sterling  and  now  in  the  possession  of  Henry  Rossington 
Gent,  rented  at  ^20  per  Annum,  And  also  the  Chief  Rent  of  four 
pounds  per  Annum  out  of  Twormore  and  Ballytrasney  in  the  said 
County  of  Corke,  Mortgaged  to  me  or  others  to  my  use  for  ^50 
Sterling,  and  also  the  Town  and  Plow  Land  of  Ballyneale  parcell  of 
Rathcormock  with  the  Advowson  of  the  Parsonage  or  Church  of 
Rathcormock  in  the  possession  of  Robert  Hedges  Gent,  at  ye  yearly 
rent  of  ^45  Sterling,  And  also  the  Manner  Town  and  Lands  of  Cuill 
als  Coole  with  the  appurtenances  whereof  Jno  Whetcombe  Gent,  late 
Deceased  was  my  Tenant  at  j£ioo  Sterling  per  Annum,  And  also  the 
Castle  Town  and  Lands  of  Ballydangan  Killcroyne,  and  Ballybrittas 
with  their  and  every  of  their  appurtenances  situate  in  ye  said  County 
of  Corke  wch.  Ulick  Roche  of  Ballydangan  Gent,  hath  leased  and 
demised  unto  me,  and  my  said  Son  Robert,  for  fourscore  and  nineteen 
years  with  Condition  of  Redemption  upon  payment  of  ^1000  Sterling 
which  I  paid  him  in  ready  money  as  ye  fine  and  Consideration  of 
making  that  Conditional  Lease  unto  me  and  my  said  Son,  And  also 
ye  Castle,  Town  and  four  plow-Lands  and  half  of  Dungillane  situate 
within  ye  sd.  County  of  Corke  Mortgaged  unto  me  by  William  Lord 
Viscount  of  Killmallock,  for  £630  Sterling  and  rented  at  j£6o  per 
Annum,  and  Also  all  the  Castle  Town  and  Lands  of  Ballyhendon  with 
ye  appurtenances  in  ye  said  County  of  Corke,  mortgaged  unto  me  by 
Redmund  Roche  Esq:  for  ^1200  Sterling  current  and  Lawfull  Money 
of  and  in  England,  and  is  rented  at  ^100  per  Annum,  And  also  all 
the  Mortgage,  Estate,  Right,  Title,  Interest  and  Demand  which  my 
late  noble  Son  in  Law  David  Earl  of  Barrymore,  and  Garret  Myaga 
his  surviving  Feoffee  hath  passed  and  Conveyed  over  unto  me  and  my 
said  Son  Robert  or  both  or  one  of  us  in  ye  Manner  Castle  and  Town 
of  Buttevant,  with  all  the  Rights  Rents  Reversions  Services,  Members 

2  H 


482     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL -OF   CORK 

and  Appurtenances  and  all  ye  Lands,  Tenements  and  Hereditaments 
and  Hereditary  Profits  thereunto  belonging,  containing  by  Estimation 
Eight  Plow  Lands  and  the  Moiety  of  three  plow  Lands  be  it  more  or 
less,  called  Rice's  Land  in  ye  Mannor  and  Fields  of  Buttevant,  for 
which  I  paid  Eight  Hundred  pounds  Sterling  to  John  Anlctill  Esq: 
and  afterwards  I  Supplyed  ye  sd.  late  Earl  of  Barrimore  with  another 
/IOOO  English  to  clear  ye  rest  of  his  Estate  from  Debts,  Userers,  and 
Mortgages  wch.  Mannor  and  Lands  are  Leased  to  Thomas  Bettes- 
worth  Esq:  for  j£i6o  Sterling  per  Annum  And  also  the  Town  and 
Lands  of  Moneyyeage  containing  half  a  Plow  Land  for  which  the  said 
Earle  of  Corke  paid  unto  Philip  McDonogh  O'Mulcaghie  the  Sume  of 
Two  Hundred  pounds  English  and  is  rented  to  James  Fitz  Redmond 
Barry  at  ^24  per  Annum,  And  also  all  that  ye  Capital  Messuage  and 
all  other  ye  Edifices,  Buildings,  Stables,  Orchards,  Gardens,  Lands, 
Tenements,  and  appurtenances  in  Bandonbridge  within  the  County  of 
Corke  which  I  lately  purchased  for  five  hundred  pounds  Sterling  from 
the  Exors  of  William  Wiseman  Esq:  Deceased  with  the  Utensils  and 
Household  Stuff  in  and  belonging  to  the  said  Capital  Messuage  wherein 
now  Sir  Chas.  Vavasour  resideth  and  also  all  such  Mortgage  Estate 
Right  Title  Interest  and  Demand  as  my  Nephew  Sir  Percy  Smith 
Knight  [R.  Corke]  hath  made  over  unto  me  or  my  use  of  in  and  unto 
the  Rectory,  Parsonage,  Tyths,  appurtenances  of  Adaire,  als  Athdaire 
in  ye  County  of  Limerick,  for  which  I  paid  him  in  ready  money  one 
thousand  pounds  English,  and  whereof  he  is  now  my  Tenant  of 
Eighty  pounds  Sterling  per  Annum  and  also  all  the  Right,  Title, 
Interest,  Mortgage,  conditional  Estate,  Demand,  wch.  I  have  or  ought 
to  have  of  and  in  the  Towns  and  Lands  of  Cloghrane  and  Clogne- 
gownagh  containing  Two  Plow  Lands  in  the  said  County  of  Limerick 
in  Mortgage  to  me  from  Sr.  Hards.  Waller  and  his  Lady  for  jCiooo 
English,  which  I  lent  him  in  ready  money,  for  which  he  is  now  my 
Tenant  at  four  score  pounds  Sterling  per  Annum,  And  also  those 
^3000  English  which  I  lent  my  Honoured  and  dearly  beloved  Son-in- 
Law  late  Deceased  Robert  Lord  Digby  Baron  of  Geas  Hill  in  ready 
money  for  four  years  Gratis,  which  four  years  ended,  and  the  said 
Moneys  ought  to  be  repaid  me  at  or  upon  Michaelmas  day  Ann  Dom: 
1636  for  repayment  whereof  upon  that  day  his  Lordship  and  the  Lady 
Offaly  his  Mother  and  the  Feoffees  have  made  me  a  Lease  of  the 
Barrony  and  Mannor  of  Geas  Hill  with  the  appurtenances  and  the 
Advowson  of  ye  Church  or  Prebend  thereof  the  Abbey  of  Killcagh 
with  ye  appurtenances  and  all  other  lands,  Tenements,  Hereditaments 


APPENDIX   III  483 

and  Hereditary  Profits  in  ye  same  Conveyance  Specified  named  and 
contained  for  ye  Term  of  ninety  nine  years,  and  for  that  ye  sd  Lord 
Digby  and  the  Heirs  of  his  Body  begotten  upon  ye  Body  of  my 
Daughter  the  Lady  Sarah  Digby  deceased  were  by  my  promise  in 
regard  I  lent  him  the  said  three  thousand  pounds  English  for  four 
years  freely  and  without  any  benefit  or  Consideration  to  be  paid  me 
for  that  time  TO  HOLD  and  enjoy  the  premises  and  to  have  and  receive 
the  Rent  Issues  and  Profits  thereof  till  the  said  Michaelmas  Day  1636 
now  past  without  rent  or  accident,  and  if  at  the  said  Feast  day  of 
Michaelmas  1636  the  said  Lord  Digby  his  Heirs  or  assigns  should  fail 
or  make  default  in  the  payment  of  ye  said  ^3000  (as  now  the  time 
being  past  he  hath  failed  to  perform)  It  is  my  Expressed  Will  and 
pleasure  that  no  advantage  be  taken  or  forfeit  had  upon  the  Breach  of 
ye  Condition,  so  as  that  the  said  ^3000  be  paid  by  his  Lordship's  Heir 
my  Grand  Child  at  or  before  such  time  as  my  said  Son  Robert  shall  or 
may  or  might  (if  he  lives  so  long)  attain  to  ye  full  age  of  one  and 
Twenty  Years. 

AND  whereas  there  is  ^750  Sterling  or  thereabouts  Rent  and 
arrears  of  Rent  now  due  unto  me  since  Michaelmas  1636  from  the 
Heirs  or  Executors  of  the  said  Robert  late  Lord  Digby  which  for  the 
most  part  incurred  in  the  said  Robert  Lord  Digby's  life-time  for  and 
out  of  ye  premises  I  do  freely  not  only  give  and  bequeath  the  said 
^750  to  my  Grand  Child  the  now  Kildare  Digby,  But  also  the  yearly 
rent  of  Two  Hundred  and  forty  pound  Sterling  untill  my  said  Son 
Robert  shall  come  to  full  age  towards  his  the  said  Lord  Digby's  main- 
tenance and  Support  And  if  it  shall  please  God  that  my  said  Grand 
Child  ye  now  Lord  Digby  should  Dy  before  my  said  Son  Robert  shall 
or  might  attain  to  the  full  age  of  one  and  Twenty  years  Then  it  is  my 
Will  and  I  do  hereby  give  legate  and  bequeath  the  said  ^750  Sterling 
and  all  the  aforesaid  Rent  that  shall  grow  due  after  his  Death  untill 
my  said  Son  Robert  come  or  might  come  to  one  and  Twenty  years  of 
age,  to  my  two  Grand  Children  his  Sisters,  Lettice  and  Catherine 
Digby,  to  be  equally  divided  betwixt  them,  and  when  it  shall  please 
God  my  said  Son  Robert  shall  attain  to  the  full  age  of  one  and  Twenty 
years  (then  and  not  before)  It  is  my  Will  that  he  shall  enter  upon  the 
Barony,  Manner  premises  aforesd  and  the  same  to  retain  untill  the 
^3000  be  paid  unto  him  ;  his  Executors  or  assigns  without  taking  any 
Consideration  for  ye  time  past  before  he  shall  attain  unto  ye  age  of 
twenty  one  years  which  Lease  so  made  me  of  the  said  premises,  and 
all  my  Right,  Title,  Estate,  Interest  and  Demand,  in  ye  sd.  I/ease  and 


484 

in  and  unto  the  said  ^3000  Sterling  So  by  me  Disbursed,  and  all  other 
thing  or  Clause  therein  mentioned  expressed  and  Contained  I  do 
hereby  wholy  give  grant  legate  and  Bequeath  to  my  said  Son  Robert 
in  manner  and  form  aforesaid,  and  I  do  likewise  in  regard  to  the  great 
Addition  of  Estate  that  is  Come  to  my  Son  and  Heir  the  Lord 
Dungarvan  by  the  late  Death  of  his  Brother  the  Lord  Viscount 
Kinalmeakie,  Confirm,  give,  Legate,  and  Bequeath,  unto  my  said  Son 
Robert  for  Term  of  his  Life  (with  the  Abbey  or  Religious  House  of 
Fermoy  als  Jermoy  als  Ardmoy)  with  all  the  Members  and  Appur- 
tenances the  manner  of  Tubbor  with  the  Appurtenances  and  also  the 
Towns  and  Lands  of  Waterstown  als  Wasterstown  Newhayes,  Canni- 
court,  Drumkit,  Ratharget,  and  the  Barrows  Land  in  or  near  Kilgoan 
with  all  and  every  their  Rights  Members  and  Appurtenances,  Lying 
and  being  in  the  Countvs  of  Kildare,  Dublin,  Wicklow,  or  in  all  or 
any  or  either  of  them,  and  also  all  the  Estate,  Right,  Title,  Interest, 
or  Demand,  which  my  Cousin  Richard  Parsons  Esq:  late  Deceased  hath 
Conveyed  unto  him  to  the  only  use  of  me  my  Heirs  and  Assigns  from 
Thos.  Lord  Viscount  FitzWilliam  of  Merryon  and  his  son  and  Heir 
of  in  and  unto  the  Mannor  of  Merryon  with  all  and  Singular  the 
Castles,  Edifices,  Lands,  Tenements,  and  Hereditaments  thereunto 
belonging  and  the  Lands  and  Tenements  called  the  Rings  End  with 
all  sych  other  Lands  as  are  by  good  and  Effectual  Deeds  duly  Per- 
fected by  the  said  Lord  Viscount  FitzWilliams  and  his  Son  and  Heir 
Conveyed  and  assured  or  intended  or  mentioned  to  be  Conveyed  and 
assured  to  the  said  Richard  Parsons  Esq:  and  his  Heirs  in  Confidence 
to  my  use  situate  within  the  County  of  Dublin  or  County  of  the  City 
of  Dublin  or  both  or  either  of  them  upon  which  the  said  Mannor  and 
Lands  there  was  due  to  me  at  the  Feast  of  All  Saints  last  past  the  full 
sum  of  ^1740  English  or  thereabouts  and  also  all  those  the  Tenements 
and  Lands  Mortgaged  unto  me  by  Dockwra  his  Mother,  called  Tibb 
and  Tom  near  Hoggenbutt  near  ye  walls  of  Dublin,  Mortgaged  unto 
me  for  Three  Hundred  Pounds  Sterling  and  rented  at  ^24  Sterling 
per  Annum  to  Sir  Philip  Percival  Knt.  and  also  all  that  the  House  in 
the  City  of  Dublin  situate  near  His  Majesty's  Castle  Bridge  there  now 
in  ye  Tenure  or  Occupation  of  John  Smith  who  marryed  Collins  his 
Widow,  or  his  Assigns  rented  at  £22  Sterling  per  Annum  and  I  do 
also  devise  will  and  legate  and  bequeath  unto  my  said  Son  Robert  the 
£1000  odd  money  English  with  the  proceeds  and  Increase  thereof 
which  is  owing  unto  me  and  wch.  I  lent  unto  James  Watson  of 
Dublin,  Aldn.  then  Mayor  of  that  City  and  Abraham  Richesis  of 


APPENDIX    III  485 

Dublin  Merchant  if  ye  said  Moneys  be  not  repaid  me  during  my  Life. 
I  do  give  grant  legate  and  bequeath  to  Mrs.  Ann  Howard  Daughter 
of  ye  Lord  Edward  Howard  my  Silver  Cistern  weighing  680  ounces, 
my  Silver  Kettle  or  Pot  weighing  162  ounces,  my  Silver  Ladle  weigh- 
ing 27  ounces,  whereon  my  own  Coat  of  Arms  is  engraven,  with  three 
pieces  of  Plate  I  bought  of  Sir  Thomas  Jerm in  the  Younger  Knight, 
and  paid  him  for  them  £274.  i8s.  6d.  besides  what  I  paid  for  Engrav- 
ing my  Arms,  if  the  said  Mrs.  Ann  Howard  shall  be  marryed  to  my 
said  Son  Robert,  But  in  case  she  shall  not  be  marryed  unto  and  become 
ye  wife  of  my  said  Son,  Then  I  give  the  said  three  pieces  of  Plate  to 
my  said  Son  Robert  if  he  live  and  attain  unto  ye  age  of  twenty  one 
years,  Otherwise  I  give  and  bequeath  them  to  my  son  Dungarvan's 
eldest  Son  Charles  Boyle.  I  do  also  devise  will  legate  and  bequeath 
unto  my  said  Son  Robert  all  those  the  ^8600  Sterling  which  I  lent  in 
ready  Money  unto  my  noble  Brother  George  Lord  Goreing  Vice 
Chamberlain  to  the  King's  Ma'ty,  payable  by  his  Statute  or  Bond  of 
the  Staple  ye  Twentieth  day  of  January  next  Ensuing  the  date  of 
these  presents,  wch.  Statute  or  Bond  of  ye  Staple  and  all  the  Moneys 
due  thereupon,  I  give  will  and  bequeath  to  my  said  Son  Robert  and 
also  all  my  Right,  Title,  Claim,  Estate,  Reversion,  Remainder,  and 
Demand,  whatsoever,  of  in  and  unto  the  Manner  of  Waltham  als 
Walthamcross,  being  ye  late  Dwelling  House  of  the  Earl  of  Norwich, 
and  so  much  of  the  lands  thereunto  adjoining  as  are  of  ye  fu  value  of 
j£iooo  English  per  Annum,  And  also  the  Manners  of  Nasin  and 
Nasingbury  and  the  Rectory  of  Nasingbury  in  the  County  of  Essex 
which  were  conveyed  unto  me  by  ye  said  Lord  Goreing  for  ye  better 
Securing  of  the  said  ^8600  Sterling  with  all  the  Deeds,  writings, 
Evidences,  concerning  the  Premises  which  Statute  or  Bond  of  the 
Staple,  Writings  and  Evidences  so  made  by  me  of  the  Premises,  and 
all  my  Right  Title  Estate  Interest  and  Demand  in  the  same  and 
unto  ye  said  ^8600  English  and  all  other  Clause  or  thing  therein 
mentioned,  expressed  and  contained,  and  all  the  abovementioned 
Manners,  Lands,  Tenements,  Hereditaments  and  Hereditary  Profits, 
Mortgages,  Leases,  Bonds,  Statutes  or  Bonds  of  Staple,  Recognizances 
or  other  Evidences  whatsoever  for  and  concerning  the  Premises  or  any 
part  of  them  I  do  hereby  freely  and  wholly  devise  give  grant  will 
legate  and  bequeath  to  my  said  youngest  Son  Robert  Boyle  TO  HAVE 
AND  TO  HOLD  all  and  singular  the  before  recited  premises  with  all  and 
every  their  Members,  Rights  and  appurtenances,  what  kind  of  Tenure 
soever  they  be  of,  to  my  said  fourth  Son  Robert  Boyle  for  and  during 


486     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

his  natural  Life,  without  Impeachment  of  Strip  or  Waste  and  after  his 
Decease  to  the  first  Issue  Male  of  his  Body  lawfully  begotten  and  to 
the  Heirs  Male  of  ye  Body  of  Such  his  first  Issue  Male  of  his  Body 
lawfully  begotten,  with  ye  same  and  such  other  and  further  Remainders 
and  Limittations  over  as  in  and  by  my  said  Septipartite  Deed  on  or 
about  the  said  fourteenth  day  of  May  Anno  Dom:  1636  are  limitted 
and  expressed  to  the  said  Robert  Boyle  his  Heirs  and  assigns  for  and 
of  the  said  Mannor  of  Tubber,  (if  the  Conditional  Estates  Mortgages 
and  Leases  respectively  so  long  continued  and  be  in  force)  all  wch. 
Sums  of  Money,  Manners,  Castles,  Towns,  Lands,  Tenements, 
Hereditaments,  and  Hereditary  Profits,  Mortgages,  Leases,  are  parti- 
cularly before  mentioned  and  expressed  and  by  me  hereby  devised, 
Willed,  bequeathed  given  and  Allotted,  for  ye  Estate  and  Livelyhood 
of  my  said  Son  Robert  and  his  Heirs  in  manner  and  form  as  is  afore- 
said. It  is  my  Will  and  so  hereby  I  do  declare  shall  be  the  Portion 
and  livelyhood  of  my  said  Son  Robert  according  to  the  Estate  and 
Limitation  aforesaid  whom  I  beseech  God  to  bless  PROVIDED  ALWAYS 
and  my  Will  is  that  my  Daughter  Alice  Countess  of  Barrimore  shall 
after  my  Decease  receive  and  enjoy  the  rents  and  profits  of  ye  afore- 
said Abbey  of  Castle  Lyons  and  ye  rents  and  profits  of  ye  Town  of 
Ballvelly  and  Inchinebacky  aforesaid  during  her  natural  life  and  no 
longer,  anything  in  this  my  present  Will  or  otherwise  limited  or 
bequeathed  to  my  said  Son  Robert  Boyle  and  Francis  Boyle  or  either 
of  them  or  to  the  Heirs  Male  of  ye  Bodys  of  them  or  either  of  them 
to  ye  Contrary  Notwithstanding. 

ITEM  I  further  give,  legate,  and  bequeath  unto  every  of  my  said 
four  sons  respectively  all  such  Rents  and  arrears  of  Rents,  Customs 
and  Dutys,  as  now  are,  or  shall  be,  due  unto  me  at  the  time  of  my 
Decease,  out  of  ye  Several  Manners,  Lands,  Tenements,  Heredita- 
ments, and  other  ye  premises  wch.  I  have  bequeathed  or  Conveyed  to 
the  Several  uses  of  every  of  them,  or  by  my  last  Gales  Rental  Book 
Subscribed  with  my  own  hand  limitted,  laid  out,  assigned  and  Dis- 
tinguished to  each  of  my  said  Sons  respectively,  what  proportion  of 
Land  respectively  every  one  of  them  shall  have,  It  being  my  Expressed 
Will  that  my  Son  and  Heir  shall  content  himself  and  rest  satisfied  with 
those  Rents  and  Arrears  only  which  shall  be  due  and  unpaid  at  my 
Death  ought  of  ye  Lands  to  his  use  and  each  of  his  three  younger 
brothers  respectively  TO  have  enjoy  receive  (without  account)  ALL  the 
Rents  and  Arrears  that  shall  be  owing  out  of  each  of  their  Lands 
towards  the  Rebuilding  of  their  Ruined  Houses,  and  it  is  my  further 


APPENDIX   III  487 

Will,  and  I  do  hereby  principally  and  Especially  charge  the  Souls  and 
Consciences  of  my  trusty  and  well  beloved  Son  and  Heir  as  also  my 
Cognizees,  Feoffees  &  Donees  in  Trust  and  all  such  others  as  are 
anywise  respectively  Seized  trusted  or  Estated  in  the  aforesd  Mannors, 
Castles,  Abbeys,  Monasterys,  Rectorys,  Tyths,  Lands,  Tenements, 
Hereditaments  and  Hereditary  Profits  Mortgages,  Leases  Sum  or  Sums 
of  Money,  Statutes  or  Bonds  of  the  Staple  Recognizances  or  all  any  or 
either  of  them  or  any  part  or  parcell  of  them  whether  it  be  by  Estate 
in  Fee  Simple,  Fee  Tail,  Mortgages,  Leases  or  otherwise,  as  also  the 
Overseers  of  this  my  Last  Will  and  Testament  as  they  will  answer  the 
Neglect  or  Breach  of  this  my  Great  Trust,  Will  and  Testament 
before  God  at  the  Dreadfull  day  of  Judgment  to  do  and  cause  all  the 
said  Mannors,  Abbeys  and  late  Religious  Houses,  Castles,  Lands, 
Mortgages,  Leases,  Tenements,  Rectorys,  Tyths,  Rents,  Reversions, 
Services,  Hereditaments  and  Hereditary  Profits  with  their  and  all  and 
every  of  their  appurtenances  by  what  Name  Title  or  place  soever 
called  or  Distinguished,  or  before  in  these  presents  particularly 
mentioned  and  expressed,  and  every  of  them  with  the  Rents  and 
Reversions  of  all  and  every  of  ye  Premises  to  be  upon  Demand  or 
request  (as  Occasion  from  time  to  time  shall  Necessarily  require) 
Surely  Effectually  and  legally  passed  over,  assured,  conveyed  and  con- 
firmed, and  held  possessed,  and  enjoyed  by  and  to  each  and  every  one 
of  them  my  aforesd  three  sons  Sir  Roger  Boyle  Knt.  Lord  Boyle, 
Baron  of  Broghill,  Francis  Boyle,  and  Robert  Boyle, — in  such  sort  and 
according  as  ye  aforesd  Mannors,  Castles,  Towns,  Lands  &c.,  are  by 
my  Deed  Septipartite  aforesd  or  by  this  my  Will  and  Testament  and 
shall  by  my  last  Gales,  Rental-Book,  my  hand  respectively  limitted  to 
my  aforesaid  sons  and  each  and  every  of  them  and  what  proportion  of 
Lands  respectively  every  one  of  them  shall  have  for  ye  respective  Term 
of  their  and  every  of  their  Natural  Lives  without  impeachment  of 
Strip  or  Waste  and  after  their  or  any  of  their  Decease  to  ye  first  Issue 
Male  of  ye  Body  or  Bodys  lawfully  begotten  of  him  or  them  that 
shall  do  so  dye  and  to  the  Heirs  Male  of  ye  Body  or  Bodys  of  Such  his 
or  their  Issue  Male  of  his  or  their  Body  or  Bodys  lawfully  begotten 
with  Such  other  and  farther  Remainders  and  Limittations  over  of 
Estates  or  Uses  as  in  and  by  my  said  Septipartite  Deed  dated  on  or 
about  the  said  fourteenth  day  of  May  Anno  Dom:  1636  of  ye  Lands 
Conveyed  to  him  them  or  any  of  them  or  to  their  or  any  of  their  Uses 
are  Expressed  and  Declared  for  it  is  my  Resolution  and  Expressed  Will 
and  Desire  that  my  said  last  half  years'  Rental  (R.  Corke)  Book  which 


488     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

shall  be  made  next  upon  my  Decease  and  shall  be  signed  with  my  own 
Hand,  shall  be  the  Leader  and  Guide  to  every  of  my  said  four  Sons  to 
Distinguish  what  Livelyhood  I  have  allotted  unto  them  and  Bequeathed 
and  Left  to  them  and  every  of  them  Respectively,  from  which  Direc- 
tion I  charge  my  Son  and   Heir  Especially  and  every  one  of  them 
respectively,  not  to  swerve  in  the  least  degree  as  they  hope  for  Blessed- 
ness in  Heaven  and  Prosperity  in   this  World,  AND   WHEREAS  I  did 
allow  unto  my  said  Son  and  Heir  for  his  Maintenance  the  full  Sum  of 
^1500   English   per  Annum  and    that  he    Undertook    to    the    King 
without  my  Privity  to  raise  Arme  and  Provide  100  Horse  to  attend 
his  Ma'ty  in  the  Expedition  against  the  Scotts  in  the  north  of  England, 
for  which  and  his  other  Occasions,  besides  his  Yearly  Maintenance 
aforesaid  I  supply  him  with  the  full  Sum  of  ^5553  Sterling  as  by  his 
Acknowledgement  and  Engagement  thereof  under  his  hand  and  Seal 
dated    on   or   about  the   Third   day   of  May,    Anno    Domino    1639 
Appeareth  which  Sum  of  ^5553   Sterling  he  hath  Obliged  himself 
his  Heirs  Executors  and  Administrators  to  Satisfy  and  pay  according 
as  I  shall  Dispose  thereof  either  by  my  Last  Will  or  Testament  or 
otherwise  and   to  Exonerate,  Acquit  and  Discharge  all  his  Younger 
Brothers  so  that  neighther  persons  or  Estates  shall  be  liable  thereunto 
as  by  his  aforesaid  Acknowledgement  and  Engagement  Dated  as  above 
doth  and  may  appear  in  pursuance  whereof  I  do  Devise  Legate  will  and 
bequeath  the  Sums  of  Money  following  to  be  by  him  my  said  Son  and 
Heir  paid  in  manner  Ensuing  IMPRIMIS  I  do  give  legate  and  bequeath 
unto  each  one  of  my  Grand  Children  the  two  daughters  of  the  late 
Earl  of  Barrimore  begotten  of  my  Daughter,  namely  to  each  of  the 
Ladies  Ellen  and  Catherine  Barry  £1000  currant  Money  of  and  in 
England,   apiece,   and    unto    my  two    Grand    Children    Lettice   and 
Catherine   Digby  the  Daughters  of  Robert   Lord   Digby,  Baron  of 
Geshell  and  my  Daughter  Sarah  both  Deced.  the  Like  Sum  of  ^1000 
apiece  for  and  towards  their  several  and  respective  Marriage  Portions, 
and  unto  my  Niece  Cath  Boyle  als  Tynt  the  sum  of  j£8oo  of  Like 
Currant   Money  of  England   (as  above)   over  and  above  the  ^200 
Sterling  which  I  paid  in  ready  Gold  since  their  Marriage  as  part  of 
my  said  Niece  her  Marriage  Portion  to  her  Father  in  Law  Sir  Robert 
Tynt,  Knt.  by  the  Delivery  of  my  Servant  Thomas  Badnedge  Esq  : 
which  several  Legacy  of  mine  Amounting  to  ^4800  Sterling  I  do 
hereby  Charge  my  said  Son  and  Heir  to  see  duly  Satisfyed  with  the 
best  Expedition  that  with  any  Conveniency  he  may  and  when  these 
five  Legacys  are  thus  discharged  that  he  employ  the  Remainder  of  ye 


APPENDIX   III  489 

S(i  ^5553  being  ^573  Sterling  for  payment  and  Discharge  of  such 
other  Leggacys  as  hereafter  in  this  my  Will  I  have  bequeathed  to 
Several  others  of  my  Kindred  Friends.  It  is  my  Will  that  untill 
such  time  as  Sir  Robert  Tynt  and  William  Tynt  his  Son  or  any  of 
them  do  make  and  perfect  unto  ye  use  of  My  said  Niece  Catherine 
Tynt  a  competent  Valuable  and  Legal  Joynture  of  good  Lands  and 
Tenements  in  ye  County  of  Corke  Answerable  to  the  Marriage  Portion 
of  j^iooo  which  is  in  part  and  shall  be  paid  as  aforesaid,  that  untill 
such  Competent  Joynture  be  fully  duly  and  legally  perfected  unto  her, 
that  my  said  Son  and  Heir  forbear  to  pay  the  said  £#oo  unto  her  for 
that  my  said  Niece  hath  not  had  that  respect  and  kind  usage  with  her 
husband  and  Father  in  Law  aforementioned  as  may  deserve  my 
forwardness  in  the  payment  thereof,  Yet  upon  the  perfecting  of  Such 
a  Competent  and  answerable  Joynture,  It  is  my  Will  yet  ye  Money 
should  be  paid  in  Discharge  of  my  promise. 

ITEM  my  Will  is  that  if  any  one  of  my  Two  Grand  Childeren  the 
Daughters  of  the  late  Earl  of  Barrymore  shall  die  before  she  be 
marryed,  That  then  the  ^1000  bequeathed  unto  her  as  aforesaid  shall 
remain  and  be  paid  unto  my  young  Grandchild  James  Barry  her 
Brother  and  in  Case  both  of  my  said  Grand  Daughters  die  before  their 
Marriage  that  then  my  Will  is,  and  I  do  hereby  devise  legate  and 
bequeath  the  aforesd  ^2000  formerly  legated  to  them  both  to  their 
said  brother  James  Barry  my  Grand  Child. 

ITEM  my  Will  is  that  if  any  one  of  my  said  two  Grand  Children 
Daughters  to  the  late  Lord  Digby  and  my  Daughter  Sarah  dye 
unmarrved,  that  ye  ^1000  legated  to  her  (as  above)  remain  and  be 
paid  unto  her  surviving  sister  for  her  better  preferment,  and  in  Case 
both  of  them  Dye  before  Marriage,  That  then  my  Will  is,  and  I  do 
hereby  legate  and  bequeath  the  ^2000  bequeathed  to  the  said  Two 
Sisters,  to  my  Grand  Child  their  Brother,  the  now  Lord  Kildare 
Digby,  Baron  of  Geshell. 

ITEM  I  give  to  every  of  my  Daughters  that  are  or  have  been  already 
marryed  and  to  ye  several  Husbands  of  each  and  every  of  my  said 
married  Daughters  a  Diamond  Ring  price  Ten  pounds  Sterling  to  be 
bought  and  presented  to  every  of  them  by  my  Executor  within  Six 
Months  after  my  Decease,  Entreating  every  and  each  of  them  to  wear 
those  rings  during  their  lives  as  a  Remembrance  of  their  Deceased  and 
most  affectionate  Father  with  God's  blessing  and  my  own. 

ITEM  I  give  legate  and  bequeath  to  my  Nephews  Edward  Boyle 
and  John  Boyle  (to  whom  I  have  not  been  wanting  but  helpful  already) 


490     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

as  follows,  (vizt.)  to  my  nephew  Edward  Boyle  I  release  forgive  and 
acquit  him  all  such  Debts  Rents  &  Arrears  as  he  shall  be  owing  unto 
me  at  ye  time  of  my  Decease  And  also  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  him 
all  the  Rents,  Tyths  and  Profits,  of  those  Impropriate  Rectorys, 
Prebendarys,  or  Vicarages,  of  Leitrim,  Clondullame,  Moycrony, 
Kilcrumper,  Nelanand,  Felam,  Situate  in  ye  County  of  Corke,  Some- 
times parcell  of  the  possessions  of  ye  late  Dissolved  Abbey  of  Glas- 
carrick  in  the  County  of  Wexford  which  were  before  these  Troubles 
by  one  demised  unto  Thomas  Holford  Clk.  Deceased,  and  Thomas 
O'Broder  for  ye  yearly  Rent  of  ^100  Sterling  or  thereabours  TO  HAVE 
AND  TO  HOLD  ye  before  recited  premises  and  all  and  every  their 
appurtenances  unto  my  said  Nephew  Edward  Boyle  and  his  now  Wife 
for  and  during  both  their  lives  and  the  longest  liver  of  them.  And  to 
my  Nephew  John  Boyle  and  his  Wife  and  the  longest  liver  of  them 
I  give  and  bequeath  all  the  Glebe  Lands,  Tyths,  Rents,  Profits  and 
Comoditys  of  the  Impropriate  Rectory  of  Knockmorne  in  ye  County 
of  Corke  which  Edward  Eyres  Clk.  is  my  Farmer  of  at  ^40  Sterling 
per  Annum, 

ITEM  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  Two  Cousins  Roger  Boyle 
who  lately  dwelt  near  Waterford  and  is  now  resident  in  Youghall  and 
Michael  Boyle  the  Son  of  Joshua  Boyle  deceased,  all  that  the  Blade 
Tyths,  Sheaf  and  other  profits  and  appurtenances  belonging  to  the 
Impropriate  Rectory  of  Stradbally  in  ye  County  of  Waterford  for 
which  James  Wallace  Esq  :  paid  me  ^60  per  Annum,  to  be  Equally 
Divided  betwixt  them  for  and  during  their  Natural  Lives,  they 
proportionably  paying  the  King's  Rent  due  out  of  ye  same ;  and  in 
Case  that  any  one  of  my  said  Cousins  Roger  Boyle  or  Michael  Boyle 
shall  die,  then  my  Will  is  that  ye  Moiety  of  ye  said  Rectory  held  by 
him  so  Deceasing  should  be  and  remain  to  the  use  of  my  Executors, 
he  paying  the  Moiety  of  ye  Rent  due  thereout  to  his  Matye. 

ITEM  I  do  Straitly  charge  and  Conjure  my  said  Son  and  Heir  and 
it  is  my  Express  Will,  that  he  content  himself  and  rest  fully  satisfied 
with  all  such  Manners,  Lands,  Tenements,  Mortgages  and  Leases  as 
he  shall  find  assigned  and  Laid  out  for  him  in  my  last  half  Year's 
Rental  Book  that  shall  be  made  and  Signed  with  my  own  proper  hand 
next  before  my  Decease  notwithstanding  any  Deeds  Estates  Grants  or 
Conveyances  made  by  me  to  the  use  of  him  his  Lady  or  Heirs  to  ye 
Contrary,  and  to  be  tyed,  restrained  and  limitted  only  thereunto,  for 
that  every  half  Year  God  by  his  great  Mercy  and  Bounty  hath  and 
doth  enable  me  either  by  Purchase,  Mortgage  or  Leases  to  encrease 


APPENDIX    III  491 

my  Livelyhood,  which  as  I  do  so  for  Reason  and  Conveniences  unto 
me  best  known,  I  distribute  and  Enter  them  in  my  Rental  Book 
under  ye  Title  and  Name  of  ye  Son's  Portion,  Patrimony  and 
Assignment,  Who  it  is  my  Will,  Bequest  and  Purpose  shall  Inherit 
and  enjoy  ye  same,  And  I  do  therefore  Charge  my  said  Son  and  Heir 
upon  my  Blessing  principally  and  also  the  Feoffees  of  my  Lands  and 
Overseers  of  this  my  Last  Will  and  Testament,  as  they  desire  my 
Soul  shall  rest  in  peace  after  my  Decease  And  as  they  and  every  of 
them  desire  to  have  their  own  Wills  justly  performed  after  their 
Several  Deaths,  and  as  they  and  every  of  them  will  answer  the  Con- 
trary doing  before  ye  Judgment  Seat  of  Almighty  God,  That  ye  last 
half  Year's  Rent  Book  that  shall  be  made  before  my  Decease  and  by 
me  to  be  Signed  as  is  before  Specify ed,  shall  be  the  Sole  and  only 
Direction  to  express  in  Trust,  Guide  and  make  known  unto  them 
what  my  Will  is  touching  the  disposition  of  my  Lands,  Estates  and 
Possessions,  to  every  of  my  four  Sons,  and  accordingly  each  one  of  my 
said  four  Sons  to  be  contented  with  that  assignment  and  Allottment 
without  Dispute  or  other  Division,  Changes,  Addition  or  Alteration 
whatsoever  and  what  other  Assurance  or  further  Conveyance  shall  be 
Necessary  and  expedient  for  Securing  of  each  of  my  said  there  younger 
Sons  Estates  and  proportions  in  ye  same  half  Year's  Rental  Book  to  be 
particularly  Mentioned,  yet  my  Son  and  Heir  (as  he  intends  ye 
Salvation  of  his  own  Soul  and  his  Honour,  Reputation  and  Conscience, 
both  with  God  and  Man  in  this  world  and  in  ye  world  to  come)  That 
he  and  they  upon  ye  like  Conjunction  do  cause  ye  same  in  every 
respect  to  be  really  and  punctually  performed  Legally  Conveyed, 
passed  over  and  perfected  respectively  unto  every  and  either  of  them 
and  their  respective  Heirs  Male  of  their  Body  lawfully  begotten  as 
aforesd  with  such  Limittations  of  Estates  and  Remainders  as  are 
mentioned  and  comprized  in  my  Grand  Conveyance  Septipartite  Deed 
dated  on  or  about  ye  sd  i4th  day  of  May,  Anno  Dom  :  1636.  ITEM 
it  is  my  Will  and  I  do  hereby  charge  my  said  Son  and  Heir  that  He 
and  his  Heirs  forever  hereafter  Continue  and  uphold  the  payment  of 
£20  Sterling  per  Annum  to  ye  School  Master  at  ye  Free  School  by 
me  at  my  Sole  Charge  Erected  in  Youghall  Ten  Pounds  to  ye  User 
thereof  and  to  each  of  ye  six  old  decayed  soldiers  or  Alms  Men  already 
placed  or  hereafter  to  be  placed  there  five  pounds  Sterling  apiece  with 
their  Houses  and  to  pay  yearly  ye  like  allowance  forever  to  ye  School 
Master,  Usher,  and  Alms  Men  of  ye  free  School  and  Alms  Houses  by 
me  lately  erected  at  Lismore  in  ye  County  of  Waterford,  towards  the 


492     LIFE   OF    THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Charge  of  which  free  School  and  Alms  Houses  at  Lismore  and  ye 
Several  Persons  that  are  to  Supply  and  reside  there,  James  Roch  is 
bound  by  his  Lease  of  Currenniboaght  to  pay  £40  Sterling  per  Annum 
and  also  to  cause  ye  like  Free  School  with  Lodgings  for  the  School 
Master  and  Usher  and  Houses  for  Six  Alms  Men  to  be  erected  of  Lime 
and  Stone,  Sawn  Timber  and  Slate,  in  the  place  where  I  caused  ye 
Foundation  to  be  digged,  and  where  before  these  Troubles  I  procured 
great  part  of  the  Square  Timber  and  hewn  Stone  and  other  Materials 
to  be  brought  in  place  for  finishing  of  that  good  work,  and  to  assign 
over  and  pay  yearly  ye  like  Salary  and  Stipend  to  ye  School  Master  ; 
Usher  and  six  Alms-men,  and  Each  of  them,  as  is  paid  to  those  of 
ye  Free  School  and  Alms-Men  of  Youghall  and  Lismore  aforesaid, 
and  this  to  be  done  as  soon  as  it  shall  please  God  to  send  Peace  into 
this  Kingdom,  The  Charge  of  all  which  Free  Schools  and  Alms- 
houses  saving  the  ^40  abovementioned  payable  by  Mr.  James  Roch, 
is  to  come  out  of  my  said  Son  and  Heir's  Revenue,  and  he  is  likewise 
to  keep  the  said  School  Houses  and  Alms  Houses  in  good  repair,  and 
to  see  ye  Masters,  Ushers  and  Alms-Men  Quarterly  and  respectively 
paid  their  Annuitys  and  Stipends,  as  I  have  formerly  done,  since  the 
Erection  of  those  Schools  and  Alms-houses  at  Youghall  and  Lismore 
as  also  that  of  Bandonbridge  aforesaid  when  it  shall  be  there  finished, 
and  I  have  appointed  it  to  be,  and  for  that  I  much  desire  the  Good 
Increase  and  Prosperity  in  ye  Town  of  Bandonbridge  and  ye 
Inhabitants  thereof  whom  I  have  ever  (till  now  of  late)  much  tendred 
and  respected,  I  do  therefore  declare  it  to  be  my  Will  that  there  be 
a  very  Strong  and  substantial  bridge  of  Lime  and  Stone  with  my  Arms 
Cutt  in  Stone  to  be  sent  upon  the  Side  Wall  thereof  made  and  Erected 
over  ye  River  of  Bandon  within  the  Town  where  ye  Timber  Bridge 
now  Stands,  for  ye  overseeing  and  Ordering  whereof  I  do  hereby 
entreat  and  intrust  my  good  friends  and  Tenants,  ye  Provost  for  the 
Time  being,  Mr.  William  Newce,  Mr.  Randall  Fenton,  Mr.  Jno. 
Langton,  Augustin  Atkins,  and  Jas.  Elwell  to  take  upon  them  the 
Charge  and  Oversight  of  the  making,  well  ordering,  and  following, 
of  the  Work  of  that  Bridge,  that  it  may  be  Gracefully,  Strongly  and 
substantially  done  without  any  false  or  deceitfull  work,  (as  other 
Bridges  of  late  have  been)  and  to  see  the  Workmen  duly  paid,  towards 
the  Charge  whereof  I  do  hereby  bequeath  assign  and  set  over  a  Debt 
of  ^67.  155.  od.  Sterling  which  Peregrine  Bannister  owes  me  by  his 
Bond  for  wch  Herbert  Nicholas  deceased  was  bound  with  him  as  his 
Surety,  the  said  Bond  to  be  delivered  by  Mr.  Walley  and  ye  Moneys 


APPENDIX   III 


493 


thereout  due  to  be  paid  to  the  said  Mr.  John  Langton  and  Augustin 
Atkins  to  be  expended  in  that  work  and  what  ye  said  Work  shall  come 
unto  more  than  that  Money,  which  I  think  will  be  ^30  or  thereabouts 
be  it  more  or  less,  I  do  appoint  the  said  Mr.  John  Langton  to  Supply 
ye  Money  for  ye  same  out  of  my  son  Dungarvan's  Rents  of  Bandon 
Mills,  whereof  It  is  my  Will  that  due  allowance  shall  be  made  unto 
him.  ITEM  WHEREAS  I  paid  unto  John  Lodden  of  Bandon  Bridge 
Mason  near  about  four  score  pounds  Sterling  for  ye  Building  of  a 
Bridge  of  Lime  and  Stone  ouer  ye  River  near  under  Castle  Coney, 
called  the  four  Mill  Water  from  Clonmell  wch  he  was  bound 
to  me  in  an  obligation  of  Two  Hundred  pounds  Sterling  to 
perfect  and  perform  strongly  and  Substantially  as  by  Articles 
for  doing  thereof  under  his  hand  and  seal  appeareth,  but  therein 
deceived  my  Trust,  and  Built  ye  said  Bridge  falsely  and  deceitfully 
with  ill  stones,  Gravell,  Lime  and  Mortar,  whereby  so  soon  as  it  was 
finished  part  of  it  was  overthrown,  and  ye  rest  in  the  most  Dangerous 
part  of  ye  River  is  yet  standing  and  Remaining,  for  ye  new  Building 
of  which  Bridge  in  that  or  any  other  near  and  convenient  place  of  ye 
River,  for  it  is  my  will  and  pleasure  it  should  be  rebuilt  again  where  it 
may  Stand  firm  and  Secure,  and  for  ye  well  doing  thereof,  I  do  not 
only  give  and  assign  over  ye  sd  Jno  Lodden's  Bond  and  articles  unto 
my  said  Son  and  Heir  who  I  do  intrust  to  see  that  Work  Strongly 
Substantially  and  Speedily  finished,  But  I  do  also  give  and  bequeath 
;£i2O  English  more  for  the  Strong  Building  making  and  finishing  of 
ye  said  Bridge,  which  j£i2O  Sterling  Roger  Me  Cragh  of  Courtswood 
Gent,  oweth  me  upon  his  own  bond  and  ye  Bond  of  Darby  O'Brian 
Esq  :  his  Surety  for  which  when  I  lent  him  the  Money,  he  promised 
me  that  his  Brother  Phillip  McDanial  McCragh  should  also  Joyn  in 
ye  said  Bond  which  as  yet  he  has  not  done,  and  if  ye  Mayor  and 
Inhabitants  of  ye  Town  and  Corporation  of  Clonmell  and  ye  Gentle- 
men, Freeholders,  and  Inhabitants  of  ye  County  after  they  shall  be  all 
returned  to  their  Loyalty  and  Subjection,  will  Undertake  the  Carriage 
of  the  Materials  and  bring  them  in  place  for  the  Building  of  the  sd. 
Bridge  and  that  the  Masons  and  Workmen  by  my  sd  Son  to  be  chosen 
and  Agreed  withal,  shall  and  do  give  sufficient  Security  unto  my  said 
Son  for  the  Building  of  the  sd  Bridge  Strongly  and  Substantially  in  all 
Respects  that  it  may  Continue  for  the  Passage  easy  and  Safely  of  the 
Country  (R.  Corke)  and  Traveller,  then  and  in  such  Case,  I  do  not 
only  Give  and  Bequeath  the  Benefit  of  the  sd.  Jno  Lodden's  Bond  and 
Articles  but  also  the  said  ^120  due  by  the  sd  Bond  for  the  new 


494     LIFE   °F    THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Building  and  finishing  of  the  sd  Bridge  as  a  Testimony  of  my  good 
affection  to  that  Work  and  howsoever  that  this  sd  Jno  Lodden  hath 
failed  in  this  Work  and  the  Trust  yet  I  reposed  in  him  thro'  too  much 
Negligence  or  Covetuousness  or  both,  Yet  I  am  of  Opinion  that  he  is 
the  fittest  man  to  Rebuild  it,  to  Redeem  his  own  Error  and  Disgrace, 
and  I  advice  that  he  may  have  the  doing  of  it,  putting  in  good 
Security  for  the  performance  thereof,  or  if  ye  sd.  Daniel  McCragh  and 
Darby  O'Brien  his  Surety  shall  and  do  give  in  good  and  Sufficient 
Security  to  have  the  sd  Bridge  Strongly  and  Substantially  Erected  and 
Finished  in  some  Convenient  time,  Then  it  is  my  Will  that  they 
shall  have  the  sd  Bond  restored  unto  them  at  such  Time  as  it  shall 
appear  the  Work  thereof  is  Substantially  Finished  with  side  Walls  and 
my  Arms  Thereupon  in  Stone.  Moreover  for  that  I  Esteem  it  a 
Work  of  great  Charity  much  Tending  to  the  Ease  and  Safety  of 
Travellers  to  have  Bennet's  Bridge  in  the  County  of  Kilkenny  to  be 
Strongly  Repaired  where  it  is  defective  or  new  Built  with  Expedition 
wherein  I  am  Confident  my  much  Hond.  Lord  the  Marquess  of 
Ormond  will  not  only  contribute  himself  will  also  prevail  with  ye 
Gentlemen  and  Freeholders  of  that  County  to  help  to  bear  ye  Charge 
of  so  Great  and  General  a  Good  Work  towards  which  it  is  my  Will 
(if  his  Lordship  and  ye  County  will  assist  in  the  Charge)  for  to  give 
and  bequeath  ^200  Sterling  to  perfect  that  Work  which  is  usefull  and 
necessary  for  the  Country  of  wch  ^200  Sterling  Richard  Osborne 
Esq  :  and  Nicholas  Osborne  his  Brother  owes  me  ^130  Sterling  and 
the  remain  being  ^70  Sterling  John  Butler  of  Cloghbready  in  ye 
County  of  Tipperary  Esq  :  oweth  by  Bond  duly  indebted  unto  me  the 
Bonds  for  repaying  of  which  Sums  as  well  by  the  said  Richard  and 
Nicholas  Osborne  as  John  Butler  remaining  with  my  Receiver  Mr. 
John  Wallie  I  do  hereby  will  and  appoint  the  said  Mr.  Wallie  to 
deliver  over  unto  my  good  Friends  Sir  Patrick  ....  Knt.  and 
....  Rooth  of  Kilkenny  Esq  :  (or  any  of  them)  to  whom  ye 
money  will  be  duly  paid  so  as  they  both  or  any  of  them  upon  ye 
Receipt  of  the  money  will  enter  into  Bonds  to  my  Cousin  Joshua 
Boyle  for  ye  Strong  and  Substantial  Building  of  ye  Bridge  within  Two 
years  next  after  my  Decease,  or  upon  their  failure  to  repay  ye  said 
^£200  to  ye  said  Joshua  Boyle  his  Executors  Administrators  or  assigns 
to  whom  upon  their  failure  I  freely  give  and  bequeath  it. 

AND  WHEREAS  I  have  heretofore  been  at  Great  Charges  for  ye 
Building  of  a  Timber  Bridge  ;  wherein  800  Tuns  of  Choice  Timber 
were  by  me  bestowed  over  ye  River  of  Awmore  als  Black  Water  near 


APPENDIX  III  495 

Fermoy,  which  by  an  Extraordinary  Flood  was  carried  away,  and  for 
that  I  desire  ye  Ease  and  Safety  of  ye  Neighbours  and  Travellers  and 
to  have  a  very  Strong  and  Substantial  Bridge  of  Lime  and  Stone  built 
in  the  place  thereof  (as  it  is  at  Moyallo)  I  do  hereby  Signifie  that  it  is 
my  Will  and  desire  that  my  Brother  in  Law  William  Fenton  Knight, 
Richard  Fisher  Esq  :  his  Mat'ys  Attorney  of  Munster,  and  Joshua 
Boyle  Esq  :  with  the  assistance  and  Service  of  my  Tenant  George 
Hartwell,  should  cause  a  very  gracefull  and  substantial  Bridge  to  be 
built  of  Lime  and  Stone  over  ye  River  of  Fermoy  and  for  ye  Defraying 
ye  Charge  thereof  I  do  hereby  give  ^200  Sterling  that  I  lent  my 
Nephew  John  Brown  Knt.  upon  his  Bond,  with  ye  proceed  thereof, 
wch  Bond  it  is  my  will  and  Direction  that  Mr.  Wallie  shall  deliver  to 
my  said  Brother  in  Law  Sir  William  Fenton  Knt.  Richard  Fisher  and 
Joshua  Boyle  Esq  :  Who  I  hereby  authorize  to  Demand,  receive  and 
recover  the  said  moneys,  and  upon  Securitys  given  by  such  Masons 
and  Workmen  as  they  make  Choice  to  Build  ye  said  Bridge  in  such 
Manner  and  Form  as  the  Bridge  of  Moyallo  is  now  built ;  or  better 
to  pay  and  distribute  those  Moneys  as  the  Work  shall  go  forward 
untill  it  be  Strongly  and  Substantially  in  all  Respects  finished,  and  if 
ye  Moneys  due  upon  that  Bond  and  proceed  will  not  finish  ye  work, 
then  I  do  hereby  authorize  and  appoint  the  said  Richard  ....  Esq  : 
his  Mat'ys  Attorney  at  Munster  to  add  ^30  or  ^40  more  out  of  his 
own  Rents  as  it  shall  require  for  wch  his  so  doing  this  shall  be  his 
sufficient  Discharge  and  acquittance,  and  for  this  Charitable  work 
tending  to  ye  Ease,  Safety  and  Conveniency  of  all  Travellers  and 
Strangers,  I  am  willingly  induced  to  bestow  these  Moneys  tho'  I  also 
loose  ye  benefit  of  my  Ferry  Boat  thereby,  praying  them  to  so  Guide 
direct  and  oversee  this  Work  That  it  may  be  Strongly  and  Substan- 
tially done  for  perpetuity,  without  any  unnecessary  Delay  or  Loss  of 
time,  and  that  my  arms  may  be  cut  in  a  Table  of  Stone  and  Set  upon 
a  Side  Wall  thereof.  AND  WHEREAS  Sir  John  Leeke  Knt.  at  his  first 
arrival  in  Ireland  borrowed  of  me  one  hundred  pounds  Sterling  which 
I  lent  him  Gratis  without  any  Consideration  and  in  Regard  he  pro- 
mised me  ye  Repayment  thereof  in  a  Short  Time  after  I  lent  it,  I 
neither  till  some  years  past  (when  he  returned  out  of  Yorkshire)  took 
Bill  or  Bond  for  ye  same,  AND  WHEREAS  also  ye  said  Sir  John  Leeke 
is  duly  and  justly  indebted  to  me  for  ye  rents  and  Arrears  of  ye  lands 
he  held  of  me  in  Liffimy  in  the  farther  sum  of  ^350  Sterling  for  which 
he  gave  me  his  Security  under  his  Hand  and  Seal  all  remaining  with 
Mr.  Wallie  to  be  paid  at  my  will  and  pleasure  but  never  as  yet  paid 


496     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

any  of  those  Two  Debts  or  any  part  thereof  and  that  I  also  at  his 
Importunity  and  going  into  England  Supplyed  his  Lady  with  other 
^"40  Sterling  in  ready  Money  at  his  Earnest  Intreaty  and  Deep  pro- 
testation to  repay  it  me  at  a  Day  now  long  since  past,  which  he  hath 
also  failed  in,  So  as  his  whole  Debt  now  due  unto  me  Amounts  unto 
^490  Sterling,  Nevertheless  it  is  my  will  that  the  ^100  I  so  long 
since  lent  him  freely  shall  be  by  him  paid  within  some  reasonable  and 
convenient  time  in  manner  following : ,  Vizt :  ^33.6.8d.  to  my 
Cousin  Mr.  Robert  Nayler  Dean  of  Limerick,  ^33.6^.  thereof  to 
my  Cousin  and  his  Uncle  Mr.  Thomas  Nayler,  and  ^33.6^.  unto 
the  Children  of  my  Cousin  John  Allen  deceased  to  whom  I  give  and 
bequeath  the  said  £100  to  be  equally  Divided  betwixt  Them  or 
amongst  such  of  them  as  shall  be  Living  at  my  Decease,  and  the  other 
^40  last  Sent  him  Gratis  I  give  and  Bequeath  unto  my  Cousin 
Richard  Boyle  Son  of  Joshua  Boyle  Esq  :  and  when  that  ^140  are 
paid  unto  them  according  to  this  my  Bequest  then  it  is  my  Discretion 
and  Will  that  Sir  John  Leeke  be  freed  thereof  as  also  of  the  Debt  of 
£350  which  he  Owes  me  by  his  Specialty  which  I  hereby  Desire  may 
be  then  Delivered  unto  him  and  not  before,  and  I  do  Conditionally 
and  in  manner  and  form  aforesaid,  freely  Give  and  forgive  him  that 
Debt  of  £350  Sterling  as  a  Testimony  of  my  good  Affection  to  him 
and  his  so  he  pay  ye  ^140  lent  him  as  I  formerly  Bequeathed  and 
Disposed  of  the  same.  ITEM  I  bequeath  to  my  Cousin  Mary  Cupse 
the  Sum  of  ^20  Sterling  due  unto  me  from  Donogh  O'Mulcaghie  of 
Nockampoze  in  the  County  of  Waterford,  David  O'Mulcaghie  of  the 
same,  Gent.  David  Pruddenragh  of  Knockroe  and  Morgan  Evans  of 
Clotthenny  in  the  said  County  by  their  Bond,  £10  whereof  was 
Payable  upon  May  Day  1639  last  Past,  and  the  other  ^10  at  the  feast 
of  All  Saints  then  next  Ensuing  which  moneys  if  not  paid  me  in  my 
Lifetime  and  the  said  Mary  then  Living,  I  do  appoint  my  Cousin 
Dean  Nayler  to  receive  for  her  Use,  but  if  she  be  then  Dead  or  if  any 
part  thereof  be  Unpaid,  to  my  Cousin  Dean  Nayler's  Eldest  Son  and 
Daughter  to  be  equally  Divided  betwixt  them.  ITEM  altho'  my 
Cousin  Thomas  Boyle  hath  not  Deserved  it  at  my  hands  YET  I  give 
and  Forgive  him  the  £10  he  Borrowed  of  me  upon  his  Bill,  together 
with  such  Rents  and  Moneys  which  are  of  a  good  Value  that  he  hath 
Gathered  and  Received  out  of  my  Lands  Clan-Awliff  of  both  which 
I  hereby  Release  him.  ITEM  WHEREAS  There  is  due  unto  me  for 
Arrears  of  Rent  from  Owen  O'Loghie  McSweeny  by  his  Bond  or  Bill 
the  sum  of  ^35  Sterling  I  do  hereby  give  and  Bequeath  the  said  Bill 


APPENDIX   III 


497 


of  Debt  to  the  Children  of  my  Cousin  Francis  Boyle  Deceased  and 
Charity  his  Wife  and  do  Appoint  Mr.  John  Wallie  to  deliver  up  the 
said  Bond  or  Bill,  whereby  the  said  Children  may  Recover  and 
Receive  the  Same.  ITEM  WHEREAS  the  Lady  Una  Boyle  the  now 
Wife  of  Richard  Fisher  Esq  :  his  Mat'ys  Attorney  of  Munster  Did  in 
her  Widowhood  perfect  unto  me  her  Bill  or  Assurance  for  the  due 
Payment  of  Eighty  eight  Pounds  Sterling  which  my  kinsman  her 
former  Husband  Sir  George  Boyle  Knt.  did  Justly  Owe  unto  me  with 
more  at  his  Death  AND  WHEREAS  also  her  now  Husband  Richard 
Fisher  Esq  :  aforesaid  stands  justly  Indebted  to  me  by  Bond  in  the 
full  Sum  of  j£ioo  Sterling  I  do  hereby  Bequeath  and  Legate  those 
Two  Debts  and  the  Bonds  whereupon  they  grow  due  to  my  Daughter 
the  Countess  of  Barrimore  to  her  own  Use  without  any  Account  for 
the  Same.  ITEM  WHEREAS  my  Nephew  Sir  Piercy  Smith  Knt.  by  his 
Bill  Obligatory  Dated  20th  April  1635  Standeth  Bound  in  £500  for  the 
Payment  of  250  Pound  Sterling  at  the  End  of  one  Year  next  after  the 
Death  of  Sir  Richard  Smith  his  Father  I  do  give  and  bequeath  that  Bill 
Obligatory  and  all  the  Moneys  due  thereon  to  my  Cousin  and  Godson 
Boyle  Smith  if  he  shall  Live  till  it  be  due.  And  I  do  also  Give  and 
Bequeath  to  my  said  God  Son  Boyle  Smith  All  that  ^30  Sterling 
a  year  which  the  said  Sir  Percy  Smith  his  Father  is  bound  half  Yearly 
to  pay  me  during  his  Father's  Life  and  for  one  whole  year  next  after 
his  said  Father's  Decease.  ITEM  I  give  and  bequeath  unto  my  Niece 
Mrs.  Catherine  Supple  of  Aghaddah  my  White  Silver  Salt  and  Cover 
unguilt  wch.  stands  upon  four  pillars  to  be  kept  as  a  Memorial  of  me 
her  deceased  Uncle  who  loved  her  dearly.  ITEM  to  my  dearly  hond. 
Lord  the  Lord  Primate  of  Ireland,  I  do  appoint  my  Executors 
presently  after  my  decease  to  deliver  my  best  Jewell  called  Walter 
Raleigh's  Stone,  for  his  Lordship  to  have  wear  and  make  use  of  during 
his  Life,  and  at  his  Decease  to  see  it  safely  delivered  up  to  my  Son 
and  Heir,  and  to  his  Lordship  also  I  give  my  own  Bible.  ITEM.  I 
bequeath  my  Six  Suits  of  new  Cloaths  (excepting  my  Tawney  wrought 
Velvet  Gown  hereafter  legated  to  ye  Lord  Ranelaigh)  which  I  sent 
with  my  Linnen  out  of  England  and  which  are  in  my  Trunk  at 
Dublin  to  be  equally  Divided  between  my  three  younger  Sons.  ITEM 
I  Bequeath  my  new  Scarlet  Bed  with  all  the  appurtenances  to  my 
Daughter  Broghill.  ITEM  I  Bequeath  my  Travelling  Coach  and 
Furniture  and  Close  Silver  Chafen  Dish  to  ye  Lady  Smith.  ITEM  I 
bequeath  my  new  Horse  Litter  lined  with  red  wrought  Velvet  and  ye 
Furniture  thereof  to  the  Lord  Chancellor  as  a  Testimony  of  my  good 

2  I 


498     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

affection  to  him  and  that  his  proceedings  about  Cre  Eustace  doth  not 
Stick  in  me.  ITEM  I  bequeath  to  my  noble  Lady  and  Cousin  the 
Ladv  Ann  Docwra  all  such  Rents  and  Arrears  of  Rent  as  shall  be  due 
to  me  out  of  the  Lands  and  Tenements  of  Tib  and  Tom  near 
Hoggenbutt  as  shall  be  due  unto  me  at  ye  time  of  my  Decease  from 
Sir  Phillip  Percival  Knt.  who  rents  the  same  of  me  at  £24.  Sterling 
per  Annum.  ITEM  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  dearly  beloved 
Daughter  the  Lady  Joan  Countess  of  Kildare  All  such  Sum  or  Sums 
of  Money  as  at  ye  time  of  my  decease  shall  be  mine  and  remain  in 
ye  Custody  of  my  honoured  Cousin  the  Lord  Justice  Parsons.  ITEM 
I  will  legate  and  bequeath  unto  my  Daughter  Dungarvan  my  Diamond 
Ring  which  my  mother  at  her  death  gave  me,  and  I  have  wore  it  56 
years,  praying  her  to  wear  it  as  a  happy  fortunate  and  lucky  stone  during 
her  life  and  to  leave  it  to  her  Son.  ITEM  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my 
Virtuous  and  dearly  beloved  Daughter  the  Vicecountess  Dowager  of 
Kinalmeakie  (who  I  am  infinitely  grieved  is  by  the  untimely  Death  of 
her  husband  separated  from  my  Family)  my  Two  Cream  Silver  Bowles, 
my  Six  fruit  Dishes,  and  one  of  my  Silver  Chamber  Pots.  ITEM  I  give 
to  my  Son  Francis  his  Wife,  my  double  guilt  Salt  and  Cover  wch. 
Stands  upon  four  pillars  with  a  Christial  Globe  in  the  Middle  thereof. 
ITEM  I  bequeath  to  my  true  and  faithful  Friend  Sir  Thomas  Stafford 
Knt.  if  he  Survive  me,  my  Diamond  Hatband  for  which  I  paid  him 
^200,  but  it  is  of  far  greater  Value,  which  if  my  Son  Francis  Survive 
him,  I  pray  him  to  bestow  it  upon  my  said  Son  at  his  Death.  ITEM 
to  ye  Lord  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  I  give  the  Richest  pair  of  Gloves  that  I 
have  at  my  Death,  and  towards  the  new  building  Covering  and 
Garneshing  the  Chancell  of  ye  Collegiate  and  parochiall  Church  of 
Youghall,  I  give  and  bequeath  a  Debt  of  ^98  Sterling  or  thereabouts 
which  William  now  Lord  Bishop  of  Cork  and  Ross,  and  Thomas 
Frith  Clk,  owes  me  by  Bond,  hereby  Authorising  my  Cousin  Joshua 
Boyle  to  Demand  Receive  or  Recover  the  same  and  praying  the  said 
Lord  Bishop  of  Cloyne  and  the  Mayor  of  Youghall  for  the  time  being, 
to  See  that  my  said  Cousin  carefully  dispose  thereof  to  the  Workmen 
as  the  Work  of  the  said  Chancell  goeth  forward.  ITEM  I  give  the 
great  Spectacle  Set  in  a  frame  of  Silver  to  my  Cousin  Dean  Boyle. 
ITEM  to  my  Noble  Lord  and  Brother  the  Lord  Viscount  Ranelagh 
I  give  my  Tawney  wrought  Velvet  Gown  lined  throughout  with  Plush 
of  the  same  Colour  Trimmed  with  Lace  and  Buttons  of  Gold  and  Silk 
Suitable.  ITEM  to  my  Noble  Friend  the  Lord  Estmond  I  give  my 
best  foot  Cloath  which  is  embroidered  with  Gold  and  Silk  with  the 


APPENDIX   III  499 

Furniture  thereunto  belonging.  ITEM  to  my  Hond.  Cousin  the  Lord 
Justice  Parsons  I  give  and  Bequeath  my  Sedan  lined  with  Red  wrought 
Velvet  and  ye  Furniture  thereof,  with  my  Black  wrought  Velvet 
Gown  lined  with  Plush  and  laced  as  ye  Tawny  Gown  is,  and  Brace 
of  Bucks  every  Summer  during  his  life  to  be  taken  out  of  my  Park 
and  Sent  to  him  yearly  by  my  Son  and  Heir  to  Bellamount  or  Dublin 
desiring  him  as  he  hath  been  my  Cordial  and  Constant  Friend  so  that 
he  would  extend  his  Love  and  Care  to  my  Son  and  Heir  and  all  ye 
rest  of  my  Children  and  to  his  Uttermost  defend  them  from  wrong 
and  oppressions  and  above  all  things  labour  to  keep  them  in  Unity 
amongst  themselves  and  one  to  the  other.  ITEM  to  my  Noble  Friend 
and  Brother  Sir  Adam  Loftus  Knt.  His  Mat'ys  Vice  Treasurer  I  make 
the  like  Suit  and  to  him  as  a  Dying  Friend's  Remembrance  I  give  one 
of  my  best  Geldings  or  Horses,  and  my  Damask  Petronell  and  Case 
wch  is  in  Mr.  Wallie's  keeping.  ITEM  to  my  honest  Cousin  Sir 
Garrett  Lowther  Knt.  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  His  Mat'ys  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  I  make  ye  like  request  to  whom  as  a  token  of  my  love 
I  give  ten  pounds  Sterling  per  Annum  to  be  paid  proportionably  by 
way  of  Annuity  out  of  my  four  sons  Estates  during  his  Life,  Praying 
him  to  be  to  my  Children  as  he  has  been  to  me  a  faith  full  Councillor 
and  firm  Friend.  ITEM  to  my  Brother  in  Law  Sir  William  Fenton 
Knt.  I  make  ye  like  request  and  to  him  I  Give  my  ash  coloured 
wrought  Velvet  Gown  lined  throughout  with  Plush  laced  and  Buttoned 
with  Laces  and  Buttons  of  Gold  and  Silver.  ITEM,  to  my  worthy 
Friend  Sir  James  Wear  Knt.  I  give  and  bequeath  my  Standish  now 
here  in  Youghall.  ITEM  to  my  worthy  Friend  Sir  James  Wear  and 
Sir  Phillip  Percival  Knts.  I  bequeath  to  each  of  them  a  Gelding  of  my 
own  Breed.  ITEM  to  Sir  John  Brown  Knt.  I  give  my  best  Sword  and 
Belt  and  a  pair  of  Silver  Spurrs  and  to  His  Lady  my  Niece  I  bequeath 
my  warming  Pan  of  Silver  and  to  her  sister  Mrs.  Mary  Cole  my 
Silver  Sugar  Box.  ITEM  to  my  Nephew  Sir  Piercy  Smith  I  give  my 
new  Cloak  Suite  and  Cassock  of  Hair  Coloured  Figured  Satten  Laced 
with  Gold  Lace  with  the  Garters  and  Stockings  suitable  and  to  Each 
of  his  Daughters  four  Cows  a  piece  which  are  in  my  park  to  bring 
them  into  Stock  to  exercise  their  good  House  wifery,  and  to  my  said 
Nephew  Sir  Piercy  Smith  and  my  Nephew  Roger  Power  I  give  Eight 
of  (R.  Corke)  my  Studd  mares  to  be  equally  Divided  betwixt  them. 
ITEM  to  my  Noble  and  worthy  friend  George  Courtney  Esq  :  I 
bequeath  my  Book  of  the  History  of  King  Henry  the  Seventh.  ITEM 
to  my  Dear  Brother-in-Law  Sir  Richard  Smith  Knt.  I  bequeath  my 


500    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 

Ash  Coloured  Wrought  Velvet  Cloak  lined  with  Plush  with  the  Suite 

Stockings  and  Garters  answerable  thereunto,  and  my  Black  Velvet  Coat 

lined  with  Martin's  Fur.     ITEM  to  my  Cousin  Joshua  Boyle  I  give  my 

Black  Stuff  Taffety  Cloak  lined  with  Plush  with  the  Suite,  Stockings 

and  Garters  and  Roses  suitable.    ITEM  to  Captain  Strongman  I  give  my 

new  suit  of  Cloath  Rash  of  Marble  Colour  Laced  with  Gold  Lace  with 

Silk  Stockings  Garters  Roses  and  all  things  Suitable.    ITEM  to  Captain 

Richard  Jolliffe  I  give  my  Stuff  Cloak  Suite  Stockings  Garters  and 

Roses  Suitable  wch.  are  edged  with  Gold  Lace.     ITEM  to  Mr.  Jno. 

Hunt  I  bequeath  my  new  Cloath  of  Gold   Doublett  which  I  never 

wore  and  ye  points  to  ye  same  belonging.     ITEM  to  my  Trusty  Friend 

Mr.  John  Wally  I  appoint  my  Son  and  Heir  to  give  £20  Sterling  a 

year  and  his  own  and  his  Man's  Diet  and  Chamber  in  my  House  and 

the  feeding  of  Two  Gelding,  for  so  long  time  as  he  shall  live  there 

with  him  and  be  pleased  to  continue  my  said  Son  and  Heirs  Receiver 

of  his  Rents  and  Revenues,  and  my  three  younger  Sons  Receiver  and 

Auditor,  and  continue  carefull  in  upholding  of  my  Ironworks  wherein 

he  is  able  and  best  Experienced  having  been  lately  Joint  Farmer  of 

them  with  Adam  Wering  at  ye  Rent  of  ^650  Sterling  per  Annum, 

And  to  him  I  give  my  Best  Black  Sattin  Cloak  lined  with  Plush  and 

the  Sattin  Suite,  Stockings,  Garters  and  Roses,  Answerable  thereunto, 

to  which  are  here  in  Youghall,  praying  him  as  I  have  ever  reposed 

great   Trust   and    Confidence    in    him    and    found   him    to    my    best 

Observations  just  and  faithfull  in  all  my  Affairs  and  Accounts  so  that 

he  will  continue  .the  like  Care  Faith  and  Trust  to  all  my  Sons  and 

be  a  just  and  faithfull  Accountant  for  and  unto  them  as  he  will  answer 

the  contrary  at  the  Day  of  Judgment  when  the  Secrets  of  all  Hearts 

shall  be  discovered.     And  to  him  I  do  likewise  and  forgive  the  Statute 

Staple  which  he  hath  Entered  into  to  pay  me  ^500  which  I  ordain 

my  Executor  freely  to   deliver  up  and  release  unto  him.     ITEM  my 

Will  is  that  my  old  Servant  John  Jackson  shall  sit  Rent  free  for  his 

House  and  Land  in  Lismore  during  his  own  Life.     ITEM  It  is  my 

Will  that  the  Widow  of  James  Forster  my  antient  Servant  shall  from 

the  time  of  my  Decease  untill  her  Death  enjoy  her  Houses  and  Land 

Rent  free.      ITEM  I  give  to  my  Servant  Thomas  Badnege  Esq :  the 

£20  Sterling  a  Year  I  now  allow  him  to  be  taken  out  of  the  Rents 

of  Ballyhubbert    during    his   Life.       ITEM    to   my    Servant    William 

Chettle  I   give  Twenty  Pounds  Sterling  a  Year  during  his  Life  to 

be  paid  him  out  of  the  Rents  of  Poulmore  in  the  Barony  of  Inchequin 

and  also  a  debt  of  £195   Sterling  which  Arthur  Freake  and  Lieut. 


APPENDIX  III 


501 


James  Finch  do  owe  me  by  their  Bond  by  me  assigned  and  given  up 
the  said  William  Chettle  as  also  all  other  my  Wearing  Linnen  and 
Apparell  which  I  shall  have  at  my  Death  and  is  not  disposed  of  in 
this  my  last  Will  and  Testament  And  I  do  desire  my  Son  Robert 
that  in  regard  of  the  Fidelity  and  Trust  that  I  have  found  in  the  said 
William  Chettle  (who  waited  upon  me  in  my  Chamber  and  Carried 
my  Purse  for  above  26  years)  that  he  will  entertain  him  into  his 
Service  in  the  same  Place  and  Condition  wherein  he  hath  so  long 
served  me,  whom  I  hereby  seriously  commend  to  my  said  son  for 
a  faithfull  true  and  honest  Servant  that  will  Carry  his  Purse  and  keep 
his  Accounts  faithfully  and  Justly  as  he  hath  done  mine.  ITEM  I  give 
to  my  Stewart  Henry  Smithwick  a  Debt  of  £100  Sterling  which 
I  lent  Gratis  in  ready  money  to  Thomas  Lord  Viscount  Baltinglass 
for  which  I  have  his  Bond  and  his  Son's  the  now  Lord  Viscount,  to 
repay  the  same  unto  me,  which  Bond  it  is  my  Will  shall  be  delivered 
up  unto  my  said  Stewart  whereby  he  may  recover  and  receive  the  same 
and  all  the  Proceed  due  thereon  in  lieu  of  his  Service,  ITEM  I  give 
to  my  Servant  Abraham  Prust  one  of  my  young  Geldings  and  £10  in 
money.  ITEM  I  give  to  my  Servant  Charles  Hooker  £10  in  Money 
and  a  Debt  of  ^382,  which  his  Father  George  Hooker  was  duly  owing 
unto  me  having  received  it  from  me  and  to  my  Use  in  ready  Money. 
ITEM  I  give  to  my  Servant  Thomas  Pomfret  a  good  Gelding  of  my  own 
Breed  and  forgive  him  all  the  Rents  and  Arrears  he  owes  me  being 
about  j£6o  Sterling.  ITEM  I  give  to  my  Servant  John  Eddowe  £10 
Sterling.  ITEM  to  my  Servant  Thomas  Langdale  £10  Sterling.  ITEM 
I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  Servant  John  Forster  ^5  Sterling  which  is 
Due  unto  me  by  George  Babies  Bill  and  do  appoint  the  said  Bond  to 
be  delivered  up  unto  him.  ITEM  to  my  Servant  Lionl.  Beecher  I  give 
^10  Sterling.  ITEM  to  Richard  Deyes  I  forgive  all  the  Rent  he  owes 
me.  ITEM  it  is  my  Will  and  I  do  hereby  desire  my  Son  and  Heir  that 
for  those  my  Servants  aforenamed  as  also  such  other  of  my  Servants  as 
shall  be  in  my  service  at  the  time  of  my  Decease  that  he  receive  so 
many  of  them  and  use  them  well  as  he  shall  think  fit  and  will  be 
willing  to  continue  with  him,  and  for  such  of  them  as  he  shall  desire 
to  continue  his  Followers  and  Dependants,  and  yet  shall  otherwise 
dispose  of  themselves,  that  he  do  them  all  the  good  he  reasonably  may 
and  Continue  and  use  them  well  and  kindly,  not  suffering  any  of  them 
to  depart  from  him  without  some  token  of  his  own  Liberality  and  my 
Love  towards  them,  and  therein  not  forget  my  old  Servant  David 
Gibbon  but  to  let  him  Enjoy  the  Farm  I  have  bestowed  upon  him 


502     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF  CORK 

with  his  good  favour  and  Countenance,  for  he  is  true  and  honest,  and 
him  also  I  give  ^10  in  money  to  help  to  Stock  his  Farm  withall,  and 
that  he  be  a  favourable  and  friendly  landlord  to  all  his  English  Tennants 
and  not  to  take  any  advantage  or  Forfeiture  of  any  of  the  Leases  I 
have  made  or  shall  make  for  non-Payment  of  the  Rent  at  the  Precise 
Day  or  Place  or  upon  any  Conditions  or  Provisoes  contained  in  their 
Leases,  except  they  shall  prove  false,  Treacherous,  unthankfull, 
injurious  or  highly  abusive  unto  him,  but  to  be  comfortable,  for- 
bearing, encouraging  and  helpfull  unto  such  as  are  honestly  inclined 
and  well  affected  unto  him  as  I  ever  was  and  desire  him  to  be  in  all 
their  just  Occasions  whereby  they  may  find  the  less  Loss  of  me,  by 
being  supplyed  with  his  Favour  Countenance  and  Goodness  towards 
them.  ITEM  I  give  to  Captain  Croker  my  brass  Musket  with  the 
Firelock  or  Shaphance.  ITEM  I  give  to  Francis  Foulke  Esq  :  and 
Roger  Carew  to  each  of  them  a  Musqet  with  Firelock  or  Shaphance 
to  be  taken  out  of  my  Armoury  as  poor  Token  of  my  Love  to  them. 
ITEM  I  give  to  my  honest  Servants  Mr.  Thomas  Moore  and  Mr. 
Henry  Raffington  to  the  first  of  them  my  Book  called  Purchas 
Pilgrimage  and  to  the  other  my  Book  called  Pacata  Hibernia,  and  to 
every  person  Man  and  Woman  to  whom  I  have  bequeathed  my 
Remembrance  of  my  Affection  It  is  my  Will  that  the  Men  shall  have 
Blacks  for  Mourning  Cloaks  and  the  Women  Blacks  for  Mourning 
Gowns  and  to  each  of  my  Servants  to  whom  I  have  given  Legacies 
Cloth  and  black  Stuff  to  make  them  mourning  Suits  of.  ITEM  I  give 
to  the  poor  of  the  Parish  of  Youghall  Ten  Pounds  Sterling,  to  the 
Poor  of  the  Parish  of  Lismore  £10  Sterling,  to  the  Poor  of  the  Parish 
of  Tallogh  and  Talloghbridge  ^10  Sterling,  to  the  Poor  of  Bandon- 
bridge  and  Cool  Fadagh  £10  Sterling  and  to  the  Poor  of  Cloghin- 
kellty  jCio  Sterling.  Moreover  I  do  entreat  and  intrust  Mr.  John 
Wallie  to  be  a  faithfull  and  true  Receiver  and  Auditor  of  all  my  Rents 
Revenues  and  Payments  which  Concern  each  of  my  Three  younger 
Sons  in  Particular  and  to  keep  three  perfect  half  Yearly  distinct  books 
and  Accounts  of  each  of  my  said  three  younger  Sons  Rents,  Receipts 
and  Disbursements  during  his  Employment  in  that  Trust.  Moreover 
I  charge  every  one  of  my  said  Sons  upon  my  Blessing  not  to  make  the 
least  Benefit  or  Profit  of  any  Advowson  or  Presentation  within  their 
several  Possessions  but  as  they  respectively  shall  fall  Void  or  in  any  of 
their  Gifts,  that  they  Pick  out  and  make  Choice  of  Learned  and 
Religious  Ministers  and  Preachers  of  good  Life  and  Doctrine  and 
bestow  them  freely  upon  them  tying  them  to  Personal  Residence,  And 


APPENDIX   III  503 

it  is  my  Will  that  upon  the  Vicarage  of  Mochell  with  the  Members 
thereof  which  was  lately  worth  200  Marks  per  Annum  (shall  next  fall 
void  by  the  death  of  Dr.  Goodwin  the  now  Incumbent  or  otherwise) 
whom  after  the  Death  of  my  present  Presentee  Mr.  John  Lancaster  I 
freely  without  Request  presented  thereunto  (that  my  Son  and  Heir 
present  thereunto)  Mr.  William  Snell  my  Chaplain  Whom  I  know  to 
be  a  Learned,  Religious  and  well  deserving  man  and  that  they  nor 
Either  of  them  give  any  Advowson  or  Presentation  to  any  Man  till 
they  respectively  fall  void  and  then  freely  to  Present  such  Able, 
Learned  sufficient  Men  unto  them  for  Life,  Learning  and  Conversa- 
tion as  are  before  mentioned.  ALL  the  Debts  that  I  know  I  owe  the 
World  are  as  follows :  To  Charles  Rich  Esq  :  my  Noble  Son  in  Law 
as  the  Remainder  of  the  ^7000  as  his  Lady  my  Daughter's  Marriage 
Portion  which  is  yet  unpaid  the  sum  of  ^3333. 6. 8d.  Sterling  or  near 
thereabouts,  To  Sir  John  Appesley  and  Sir  Thomas  Fotherly  Knts. 
and  Gabriel  Appesly  Esq  :  for  the  Remainder  of  the  ^10350  Sterling 
for  the  Purchase  of  my  Manner  of  Marston  Bygod  in  Somersetshire 
£2000  Sterling,  to  an  Irish  Merchant  wherewith  I  have  acquainted 
my  said  Son  and  Heir  ,£350  Sterling.  And  other  Debts  I  do  not  know 
that  for  myself  I  owe  any,  For  the  Payment  of  which  ^2000  to  Sir 
John  Appesley  and  Sir  Thomas  Fotherly  Knts.  and  Gabriel  Appesly 
Esq  :  I  am  confident  that  there  will  be  money  sufficient  in  my  Servant 
William  Chettle's  Hands  with  the  Proceed  of  such  Barr  Iron  as  I  have  in 
the  Store  House  in  Youghall  and  in  Money  remaining  in  the  Hands 
of  Mr.  Smith  of  Torrington  for  Iron  he  sold  for  me  and  joo  Tons  of 
Sow  Iron  for  which  George  Hellyar  of  Bristol  is  to  Pay  me  ^500 
when  I  send  it  over  unto  him  which  Moneys  in  Cash  and  Iron  will 
fully  Discharge  those  £2000  and  the  better  to  enable  my  Executor  to 
Discharge  my  said  Debt  owing  to  Charles  Rich  I  did  lend  out  these 
several  Sums  of  Money  following  :  Vizt.  To  my  Son  in  Law  Sir 
Arthur  Loftus  Knt.  and  his  Uncle  Nicholas  Loftus  Esq  :  ^500  in 
ready  money  Gratis  upon  their  Bond,  and  to  the  said  Sir  Arthur  other 
^250  upon  his  own  Security,  To  the  Earl  of  Kildare,  for  which  the 
Rents  of  the  Manners  of  Croonac  and  Adare  in  the  County  of 
Limerick  are  secured  unto  me,  j£6oo  Sterling,  To  the  Lord  Viscount 
Ranelagh  which  I  lent  him  in  ready  Money  upon  his  Bond  ^500 
Sterling,  To  Sir  William  Hull  f  r  which  I  have  his  Recognizance 
^450  Sterling,  Lieut.  Walter  Croker  owes  me  ^500  Sterling  for 
which  I  have  a  Judgement  in  the  Exchequer  against  his  Body,  Goods 
and  Lands.  The  Earl  of  Roscomon  owes  me  upon  his  Bond  perfected 


5o4    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 

to  Arthur  Champion  of  Dublin  Merchant  £200  Sterling  which  in 
ready  money  I  paid  for  him  to  my  Cousin  Birtwith  Five  Years  For- 
bearance, my  Servant  Thomas  Badnedge  Esq  :  owes  me  ^200  which 
I  lent  him  in  ready  money  Gratis,  Mr.  Robert  Mead  owes  me  for 
Ready  Money  I  disbursed  for  him  in  England,  for  which  Sir  Piercy 
Smith  his  Son  in  Law  stands  Engaged  £200  Sterling,  Edmund  Fitz 
Gerrald  of  Ballymalow  owes  me  £100  Sterling  which  I  lent  him  in 
ready  Money  in  England  and  took  up  upon  use  for  him  in  London 
and  akho'  these  moneys  or  the  greatest  part  of  them  were  by  me  lent 
Gratis  to  be  Called  in  when  my  Daughter  Mary  should  be  married 
and  were  by  me  laid  aside  for  that  Purpose  from  the  rest  of  my 
Personal  Estate  and  that  they  are  all  very  good  and  separable  Debts 
and  would  have  been  duly  repaid  me  if  this  General  Insurrection  had 
not  happened,  to  answer  (R.  Corke)  my  Payment  to  Charles  Rich, 
Yet  I  charge  my  Executors  not  to  defer  ye  Payment  of  my  aforesaid 
Debt  due  to  Charles  Rich  until!  he  hath  got  in  those  several  sums  but 
to  make  him  the  speediest  satisfaction  that  with  any  conveniency  may 
and  afterwards  to  get  in  those  debts  to  repay  himself  withall  and  all 
other  my  Moneys  Goods  and  Chattels,  Iron  Works,  Steel  Works  and 
Stocks  not  formerly  hereby  Bequeathed  nor  hereby  or  otherwise  by  me 
Given,  Conveyed  or  Disposed  of,  I  give  and  bequeath  to  my  said  Son 
and  Heir  Sir  Richard  Boyle  Knt.  Lord  Daungarvan,  Lord  Viscount 
Kinalmeakie,  whom  I  do  hereby  nominate,  Constitute,  Make  and 
Ordain  my  Sole  and  only  Executor  of  this  my  Last  Will  and  Testa- 
ment and  I  do  also  make  and  ordain  Sir  William  Parsons  Knt.  and 
Bart,  one  of  the  Lords  Chief  Justices  of  this  Kingdom,  Sir  William 
Fenton,  Knt.  Sir  Garret  Lowther,  Knt.  Lord  Chief  Justice  of  the 
Common  Pleas  and  Joshua  Boyle  Esq  :  to  be  Overseers  of  the  same, 
whom  I  do  seriously  entreat  to  bestow  their  faithfull  Pains  and  Care 
in  Endeavouring  and  Causing  this  my  last  Will  and  Testament  to  be 
realy  and  punctually  observed  and  performed  in  all  Points  so  as  no 
differences  nor  Contentions  may  Grow  and  Arise  betwixt  my  said  Son 
and  Heir  and  the  rest  of  my  younger  Sons  or  amongst  or  betwixt  any 
of  them  (which  God  forbid)  but  that  without  Suit  or  Misconstructions 
of  my  Plain  and  Honest  Intent  and  true  Meaning  herein  Expressed 
ALL  Differences  may  be  presently  and  Brotherlike  ended  composed 
and  reconsiled  by  my  said  Overseers  according  to  my  true  Meaning 
and  Intent,  even  as  they  desire  to  have  their  Own  Wills  accomplished 
after  their  Deaths,  Moreover  I  do  upon  my  Blessing  Charge  and 
Command  not  only  my  said  Son  and  Heir  but  also  all  and  every  of  my 


APPENDIX   III 


5°5 


three  younger  Sons,  Roger  Lord  Baron  of  Broghill,  Francis  and  Robert 
Boyle,  and  all  my  Daughters,  to  be  most  zealous  and  Constant  in  that 
undoubted  true  Protestant  Religion  now  possessed  and  Established  in 
the  Churches  of  England  and  Ireland  in  which  they  have  been  by 
myself  and  their  Worthy  Religious  deceased  Mother  season'd  trained 
up  and  bred,  and  that  they  and  Each  of  them  breed  up  their  Children 
in  the  same  true  Protestant  Religion  and  that  my  said  three  Younger 
Sons  be  and  Continue  observant  respective  kind  and  Loving  unto  their 
Eldest  Brother  and  that  He  will  be  helping  Comfortable  and  assistant 
unto  them  and  they  Lodged  and  Entertained  by  and  with  him  in  his 
House  in  Dublin  when  their  several  Occasions  draw  them  thither  and 
he  or  his  Heir  be  there  Resident  and  that  all  his  younger  Brethren  do 
hearken  unto  incline  and  follow  all  such  good  Council  and  Advices  as 
he  and  my  said  Overseers  or  any  of  them  from  time  to  time  shall  give 
unto  them.  IN  WITNESS  thereof  and  that  this  is  my  last  Will  and 
Testament  and  that  I  do  hereby  revoke  disannull  and  declare  all  former 
and  other  Wills  and  Testaments  by  me  heretofore  made  to  be  Void 
and  this  only  to  take  Effect  and  be  in  force  according  to  the  Words 
Sense  and  true  Meaning  herein  I  have  here  unto  put  my  Hand  and 
Seal  this  24th  Day  of  November  Anno  Domini  1642  and  in  the  i8th 
Year  of  the  Reign  of  our  Sovereign  Lord  Charles  by  the  Grace  of 
God  King  of  England,  Scotland,  France  and  Ireland,  Defender  of  the 
Faith,  &c.,  1642,  R.  Corke.  Being  Present  when  the  before  named 
Richard  Earl  of  Corke  signed  sealed,  published  and  Declared  this  to  be 
His  last  Will  and  Testament  and  did  revoke,  disanull  and  declare  all 
former  Wills  and  Testaments  by  him  made  or  conceived  to  be  utterly 
Void  and  of  none  Effect  and  this  His  last  Will  and  Testament  Con- 
sisting of  Seven  Skins  of  Parchment  whereof  every  Skin  is  signed 
below  with  his  own  hand  to  be  only  in  force  We  whose  Names  are 
Underwritten  GEORGE  CLOYNE,  RICHARD  DEANE,  EDW.  ADAMS, 
JOSHUA  BOYLE,  THOMAS  LANGDALE. 


INDEX 


ABBEYLEIX,  198. 
Abbeys,  dissolved,  479. 
Abbeys — 

Castle  Lyons,  145,  480,  486. 

Fermoy,  480. 

Gill,  139,  460,  469. 

Glascarrick,  490. 

Killeagh,  482. 

Mellifont,  151. 

St.  Domenic's,  58. 

St.  Francis,  474. 

St.  Mary's,  33,  179. 

St.  Molina's,  79,  462. 

South  Abbey,  384. 

Timoleague,  74. 

Tracton,  164. 

Abbot  or  Abbott,  Archbishop  of  Canter- 
bury, 89,  145,  162. 
Abercorn,  Master  of,  189. 
Adair,  Bishop  of  Waterford  (see  Killala). 
Adams,  Edward,  505. 
Aldersie,  Mr.,  226. 
Aldworth,  Sir  Richard,  56,  71-72,  98,  106, 

183. 

Allen,  cousin  John,  496. 
Almshouses      (see      Bandon,      Lismore, 

Youghal). 
Almsmen,  194. 
Amesbury,  161. 
Amsterdam,  trade  with,  102. 
Angier,  Lord,  217. 
Anketill,  John,  482. 
Annandale,  Lord,  190. 
Anne  of  Denmark,  Queen,  90,  105. 
Annesley,  Sir  Francis  (see  Mountnorris). 

or  Apsley  (see  Apsley). 

George,  58. 

Annory,  near  Bideford,  336. 
Anstice,  Matthias,  411. 
Antrim,  Earl  of,  176,  398. 


Appleby,  361. 

Appleyard,     Sergeant  -  Major,     defending 

Youghal,  392. 
Apsley,  Sir  Allen,  54,  no,  119. 

cousin,  54. 

estates,  11-15. 

Joan,  wife  of  Richard  Boyle,  11-12, 


41  ;  estates  of,  458. 

said  to  be  a  suicide,  II. 


Archdale,  Mervyn,  460. 
Ardmore,  55,  79,  101,  270. 
Armada,  Spanish,  I. 
Arms — 

Armour,  330. 

Brass  Basilique,  436. 

Brass  Minion,  118-119. 

Brass  Musket  with  snaphaunce,  502. 

Brass  piece,  465. 

Brass  siege  piece,  424. 

Brown  Bill,  383. 

Damask  petronell,  499. 

Drums,  419. 

Iron  guns,  436,  465. 

Iron  ordinance,  103,  393. 

Lazard  muskets,  382. 

Matchlocks,  382. 

Minion  shot,  401. 

Pikes,  383. 

Powder  and  shot,  401. 

Swords,  419. 

Armstrong,  Archie,  no,  162. 
Army  in  Ireland,  25,  no,  183,  201,  237, 

370,  377,  401,  436. 
Arscott,  Captain,  336. 
Arundel,  Earl  of,  164. 
Askeating  Castle,  121-122,  246,  424,  458, 

469. 

Athlone  Castle,  158. 
Atkins,  Augustine,  492-493. 
Audley,  Lord,  85. 

Awney,    Preceptory  or   Hospital   of,    II, 
289. 

509 


510     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 


B 

BACK  LANE,  Dublin,  189-190. 
Bacon,  Anthony,  13. 

Francis  Lord,  164,  202. 

Badminton,  297. 

Badnedge,  Thomas,  153,  275-277,  298-299, 

Bagnal,  Marshal,  13. 

Ball,  Mr.,  6 1,  109. 

Ballyanchor  Castle,  398. 

Ballycrynnin,  113,  118. 

Bally  goran,  109. 

Ballymodan,  44  ».,  457. 

Ballynetra,  8,  109. 

Baltimore,  24,  115,  117,  237,  246. 

Bandon — 

Almshouses,  458,  492. 

Bridge,  44,  492. 

Building,  43-44,  4S7-458- 

Churches,  44,  458. 

Defence  of,  382,  391,  419,  428. 

Displeasure  of  Boyle,  458. 

Forests,  101. 

Fortifications,  14,  391-392,  418,  458. 

Free  school,  458,  492. 

Gates,     Cork,    469 ;     Francis,    469 ; 
Lewis,  469,  474. 

Importance  of  town  to  Munster,  382, 
458  ». 

Incorporated,  85. 

Mutiny,  422. 

Poor,  legacy  to,  502. 

Preacher  at,  79. 

Protestant  feeling,  45. 

Provost  of,  75,  492. 

Recklessness  of  townsmen,  409. 

Restlessness  of  young  men,  410. 

River,  43,  101. 

Subsidy  demanded,  266. 

Trainbands,  55. 

Wiseman,  W.,  member  for,  244. 
Bannister,  Peregrine,  492. 
Bantry,  43,  115. 
Barbary,  117. 
Barber,  Will,  364. 
Bards,  Irish,  109. 
Barnstaple,  106. 
Barret's  Country,  72. 
Barry,  David,  144. 

Lord  (see  Barrymore). 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Poer  or  Power,  m. 

2nd  P.  Sherlock,  144-147,  180. 


Barry,  Lady  Ellinor,  150,  233,  330,  435, 

488-489. 
Ellis,  wife  of  R.  Bennet,  42. 

—  Garret,  380. 

Jack,  of  Liscarrol,  449. 

—  James,  150,  435,  489. 
James  Fitzredmond,  482. 

—  Lady  Katie,  150,  330,  435,  488-489. 

—  Lord,  85. 

—  Mr.,  145. 

the  M'Adam,  106. 

Thomas  Fitzjames,  476. 

Barrymore,  Baron,,  vi. 

1st  Countess  of  (see  Alice  Boyle). 

2nd  Countess  of,  449-450. 

David  Fitzdavid,  1st  Earl  of,  51,  57, 

73,  377,  474-476,  481-482.     Character 
of,  148-149. 

Early  life,  144. 

Education,  145,  146. 

Wardship,  145-147. 

Marriage,  147-148. 

Buys  title  of  Earl,  150. 

Escorts  Sara  Boyle  to  Mellifont,  152. 

At  Lord  Kildare's  wedding,  217. 

Irritates  Lord  Cork,  221. 

Owns  wolf-hounds,  230. 

Visits  Stalbridge,  233. 

London,  293. 

Raises  regiment,  331-332. 

Lectures  Mary  Boyle,  346. 

Begs    money  for    military  expenses, 

356-357- 

Scorns  Irish  offers,  380. 

Appeals  to  Lord  Cork  for  help,  381. 

Joins  St.  Leger's  army,  390. 

Persuades   Lord   Cork  to  assist    St. 
Leger,  399. 

Joint  Governor  of  Munster,  412-413. 

Distrust  of  Inchiquin,  414. 

Hangs  rebels,  420. 

Death,  426-427. 

Earl  of,  1 60. 

Richard,  2nd  Earl  of,  150-151,  427, 

429,  449-450,  476-479- 
Barryscourt,  145,  149,  175-176. 
Barsie  or   Bardsley,  goldsmith,  49,   119, 

162,  259. 
Barter,  108-109. 
Basing,  161. 
Bates,  Mrs.  Mary,  76. 
Bath,  city  of,  89,  96,  233,  297. 


INDEX 


Bath,  Earl  of,  376. 

stone,  105. 

Baxter,  Warden  of  Youghal  College,  39, 40. 
Bay  line,  Mr.,  490. 
Beaumaris,  175. 
Beaumont  family,  33. 

Lady,  157. 

Lord,  of  Coleorton,  156-157. 

Sapcot,  156. 

Becher,  44  n. 

Lyon  (see  Servants). 

Bedford,  Earl  of,  165,  297. 
Beecher  or  Becher  family,  136. 

Henry,  457 

Sir  William,  180,  201,  244,  402. 

Beggars,  81,  193-194. 

Beleek  Castle,  352-353. 

Bellamount,  499. 

Benn't  or  Corpus  Christi  College,  3,  4. 

Bennet,  Richard,  42. 

Berehaven,  115,  375. 

Berkshire,  Earl  of,  375. 

Bernard,  Sir  J.,  457. 

Bet  ham  MSS.,  xi. 

Bewdley,  103. 

Bewly,  270. 

Bingham,  Sir  R.,  9. 

Binvile,  Humphry  de,  3  ». 

Bird,  Walter,  Sovereign  of  Clonakilty,  80. 

Birtwith,  cousin,  504. 

Blacknoll,  Mrs.  (Eliz.  Brady),  103-104. 

Richard,  103-104,  165,  168. 

Blackwater  River,  39,  42,  83. 

Blagge,  Margaret  (Mrs.  Godolphin),  453. 

Blasket  Islands,  88,  458. 

Blennerhasset,  Sir  John,  151. 

Bodlagh,  steward  at  Maynooth,  221. 

Bolton,  Sir  Richard,  472. 

Books — 

Amadis  de  Gaul,  324. 

Arcadia,  345. 

Bible,  304,  497. 

MSS.,  165. 

French  Verbs,  60. 

History  of  King  Henry  vil.,  499. 

Pacata  Hibernia,  xi,  18,  502. 

Practice  of  Piety,  304. 

Purchas'  Pilgrimage,  502. 

Translation  of  New  Testament  into 

Irish,  79,  80. 
Bor,  Mr.,  139. 
Boucher,  Sir  Henry,  75. 


Bourke,  Lord,  390. 

Boyle,  Arms  and  Crest,  6,  41,  83,  127, 

458,  492,  495. 
Alice,   Countess  of  Barrymore,  51, 

56,  58,  I44-I4S,  147-iSi,  221,  258,  289, 

292,  297,  373,  380,  431,  449,  450,  474- 

475,  486,  497. 

Anne,  wife  of  John  Boyle,  69. 

Barbara,  wife  of  Sir  J.  Browne,  1 1  «. , 


59,  69,  289. 

Catherine  Verge,  261. 

Charles,  3rd  Earl  of  Cork,  261,  344, 

485. 
Dorothy,  Lady  Loftus,  51,  159,  222, 

384-385. 

Edward,  67,  69,  489. 


Elizabeth,  m.  R.  Smyth,  8, 42,  54, 69. 

m.  Edmund  Spenser,  R.  Seeker- 
stone,  and  Sir  R.  Tynte,  8,  13,  54,  138, 
299. 

Elizabeth   Lucy,    m.    Bishop   John 

Boyle  and  Sir  W.  Hull,  67,  69. 

Frances,  261. 

Francis,  1st  Earl  of  Shannon — 

Eton  life,  308-327. 

'  Sweet  spirited,'  309,  320. 

Love  of  outdoor  sports,  320. 

Holidays  at  Lewes,  323. 

Danger  from  falling  house,  325. 

Backs  a  bill,  327. 

Removed  to  Mr.  Douch's  teaching,  327. 

Kept  from  Scots  war  by  illness,  328. 

Marriage,  333'336,  34°. 

Sent  to  Geneva,  340. 

Plans  for  rejoining  his  wife,  341-342. 

Returns  to  Ireland,  403. 

Gallantry  at  Liscarrol,  425. 

Applies  for  troop  of  horse,  427-432. 

Takes  Cloghleigh,  436. 

Letters  to  Robert,  448. 

Carries  invitation  to  Charles  II.,  453. 

Earl  of  Shannon,  451. 

Later  life,  453,  469,  489. 

Geoffrey,  52,  68. 

Sir  George,  103,  140,  497. 

Hugh,  3  n. 

Joan,  m.  George,  Earl  of  Kildare,  51, 

129,   152,   161,   216-217,  219-220,  223, 
228,  248,  291,  384-385,  404,  498. 

Joan  (see  Naylor). 

John,   Bishop  of  Cork,  Cloyne,  and 

Ross,  3,  4, 41,  59, 60,  67, 106,171 ».,  471. 


5 12     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 


Boyle,  John,  69,  489. 
Joseph,  108. 

-Joshua,  371,  430,  494-495.  498,  500, 

504. 
Katherine,    Countess   of  Cork    (see 

Fenton). 
m.  Arthur  Jones,  2nd  Viscount 

Ranelagh,  51,  140,  156-158,  165,  213, 

233-234,  299,  308,  337-342,  364,  446- 

448,  454. 
„.  W.  Tynte,  55,  69,  234,  299, 

336,  400,  488-489. 

—  Lettice,  m.  George  Goring,  51,  56, 
156,  160,  171,  222-233,  291,  301,  323- 
324,  338,  360-361,  404,  433. 

Lewis,  Viscount  Kinalmeaky — 

Educated  atTrinityCollege,Dublin,3o8. 

Grand  tour,  299-301. 

First  Scots  war,  330. 

In  London,  337,  342. 

Wedding,  343. 

Letters  from  second  Scots  war,  357-360. 

Return  to  Ireland,  373-374. 

Christmas  at  Youghal,  386. 

Defence  of  Bandon,  408-411. 

Takes  Coolmaine  and  Kilbrittan,  410- 

411. 

Killed  at  Liscarrol,  425. 
Burial,  426. 

-  Margaret,   52,    155,    171,    204,    259, 
260,  291-292. 

—  Mary,  m.  S.  Crow,  69,  224,  289. 
m.  Pierce  Power,  8,  42,  69. 

-  m.    Charles  Rich,  4th  Earl  of 

Warwick,  52,  160,  222,  233,  289,  292, 

296,  334,  341,  345-349,  363,  453-454, 

503-504- 
Michael,  Dean  of  Cloyne,  Bishop  of 

Cork,  Archbishop  of  Dublin  and  Armagh, 

371,  498. 
Dean  of   Lismore,   Bishop  of 

Waterford,  148,  267-270. 
father  of  Sir  George  Boyle,  and 

Bishops  of  Waterford  and  Cork,  268. 
son  of  Joshua,  384,  490. 

Richard,  1st  Earl  of  Cork— 

Historical  sequence  of  career. 
Birth    and    education  at   Canterbury 

and  Cambridge,  xii,  3,  4. 
Enters    Middle    Temple;   earns    his 

living  as  clerk,  4. 


Boyle,  Richard,   ist  Earl  of  Cork  :    His- 
torical sequence  of  career — continued — 
Arrives  in  Ireland,  i,  2,  4. 
Becomes  deputy  to  Excheator  General, 

7- 
Accused  of  forgery,   and  imprisoned 

under  various  charges,  8,  9,  10. 
Marriage,  II. 
Imprisoned  again,  12. 
Escapes    to    England  from   Munster 

rebellion,  12. 
Introduced  to  Essex,  13. 
Imprisoned,   and  appeals    to    Queen 

Elizabeth,  14,  15. 
Made  Clerk  to   the  Munster  Council 

and  returns  to  Ireland,  16-18. 
Carries  news  of  the  victory  of  Kinsale 

to  Elizabeth,  27,  28. 
Second  mission  to  England,  29. 
Buys  Ralegh's  Munster  estates,  31,  38, 

455- 

Second  marriage,  33. 
Settles  at  Youghal,  47. 
Member  of  Parliament  of  Ireland  for 

Lismore,  85. 

Commanded  to  Court  by  James  I.,  88. 
Privy  Councillor  for  Ireland,  52,  91. 
Created  Baron  of  Youghal  andGovernor 

of  Lough  Foil,  92. 
Created  Viscount  Dungarvan  and  Earl 

of  Cork,  96. 

Entertains  Ralegh  on  Guiana  Expedi- 
tion, 123. 

Visit  to  England  with  his  family,  161. 
Lawsuits,   and   admitted   Bencher   of 

Middle  Temple,  165-169. 
Lord  Justice  of  Ireland,  171. 
Wrangles  with  his  fellow  Lord  Justice, 

178-179,  240,  241. 
Lord  Treasurer  of  Ireland,  189, 
Reproved  by  Wentworth,  199. 
Lady  Cork's  death  and  funeral,  205. 
Marriages   of  his   children,   147-148, 

216-217,  256. 
Struggle  with  Wentworth,    210-214, 

245-247,  262-287. 
Paralytic  stroke,  279. 
Retires  to  Stalbridge,  292. 
Gracious  reception  by  Charles  I.,  293. 
Equips  sons  for  first  Scotch  war,  329- 

330. 
Winter  at  the  Savoy,  London,  337. 


INDEX 


5*3 


Boyle,  Richard,   1st  Earl  of  Cork :    His- 
torical sequence  of  career — continued — 
Fears  for  his  Connaught  estates,  354-5. 
Made  Privy  Councillorfor  England,  355. 
Sends  ^1000  to  the  king  for  second 
-  Scotch  war,  357. 
Spends  the  winter  in  London  with  his 

daughter  Goring,  362-363. 
Permitted  to  sit  in  Long  Parliament, 

362. 
Vindicates  himself  at  Strafford's  trial, 

367. 

Returns  to  Ireland,  visiting  Stalbridge 

and  Marston,  374-375. 
Receives  news  of  Irish  rebellion,  376- 

377. 
Fortifies  Lismore  and  Youghal,  382, 

390,  418,  437. 
Supplies  funds  for  war,  399,  417-419, 

436-437. 

Poverty,  341-342. 

Appeal   to   Speaker   of  Long  Parlia- 
ment, 415-423. 

Death  and  epitaph,  441. 

Personal  characteristics. 

Administration  of  justice,  70-73,  193- 

194. 
Affection  for  family,  52,  65-66,  137- 

138,  144,  148. 
Affection  for  wife,  33,  205. 
Ambitions,  vii,  70. 
Benevolence,  43,  81,   107,  no,   in, 

"2,  375,  383-384. 
Character,  ix. 

Churchmanship,43,  162,217,  266-267. 
Clergy,  treatment  of,  ix,  78-79. 
Commerce,  capacity  for,  100-106. 
Education,  views  on,  78,  306,  478. 
Efficiency  in  public  service,  vii. 
Finance,  private,   109,  180,  226-229, 

303,  340;  public,  183-185,  188,  203. 
Forbearance,  75-76. 
Free  trade  principles,  106. 
Government  ideals,  181. 
Household  discipline,  302. 
Ill-health,  70,  90,  289. 
Industries,    fostering  of  (see  Ireland, 

Industries). 
Lawsuits,    obstinacy    in    conducting, 

x,  165-170,  173,  241-242. 
Loans  to  Crown,  no,  172,  272-273. 


Boyle,  Richard,  ist  Earl  of  Cork  :  Personal 
characteristics — continued — 

Loyalty,32,i74, 283,390,394, 415, 439. 
Matchmaking,  taste  for,  128-129,  299. 
Religious  feelings,  x,  16,  96,  205, 

287,  441,  471. 

Religious  intolerance,  viii,  188-192. 
Religious  toleration,  136. 
Servants,    kindness    to,   v,    129-130, 

500-501. 
Social  formalities,  carelessness  of,  91, 

93- 

Social  formalities,  pleasure  in,  208. 

Social  views,  ix,  181. 

Splendour,  love  of,  47,  163,  294. 

Sport,  love  of,  238. 

Stock  and  horse-breeding,  131-133. 

Tenants,  care  of,  73-77,  502. 

Tudor  traditions,  viii,  58. 

Unforgiving,  174,  247,  367-368. 
Boyle,    Richard,    Estates,    33,   173,    240, 
290-291,  336,  350,  and  see  App.  n.,  in. 

Church  property  held  by  Boyle,  33,  43, 
58,  68,  79,  163-165,  270,  274  n.  See 
also  Abbeys,  Youghal,  and  App. 
II.,  III. 

Ralegh  property  bought  by  Boyle 
(see  Ralegh). 

True  Remembrances,  xi,  52. 

•  Viscount  Dungarvan,  2nd  Earl 

of  Cork,  51,  56,  96. 

Knighted,  139. 

Portrait  painted,  152. 

Marriage  plans,  141. 

Christ  Church,  Oxford,  161. 

Marriage  negotiations,  249-256. 

Interview  with  Charles  I.,  250-251. 

Letters,  249,  250-251,  254-255. 

Journey  to  Flanders,  255. 

Marriage,  256. 

Endeavours  to  mediate  between  his 
father  and  Strafford,  257,  280. 

Raises  forces  for  first  Scots  war,  229. 

Letters  from  the  army,  331. 

Member  for  Appleby  in  Long  Parlia- 
ment, 361. 

House  in  St.  Martin's  Lane,  365. 

Witness  at  Strafford's  trial,  367. 

Returns  to  live  at  Youghal,  373. 

Goes  to  England  to  beg  for  reinforce- 
ments, 387. 

Lives  on  his  pay,  401. 


2  K. 


5i4     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 


Boyle,  Richard  (Viscount  Dungarvan),  and 
Earl  of  Cork — continued — 
Battle  of  Liscarrol,  424-426. 
Inherits  Bandon  property  and  troops, 

429. 

Goes  to  England  to  canvass  for  presi- 
dency, 430. 
Brings  back  royal  desires  for  a  truce, 

438. 

Serves  under  Inchiquin,  443. 
Succeeds  to  title,  443. 
Notes  from  diary,  445. 
Friendship  with  Henry  Cromwell,  445. 
Made    Lord    Clifford    and     Earl    of 

Burlington,  452. 
Later  life  and  prosperity,  452. 
Legacies  to  (see  Appendix  in.). 
Boyle,  Richard,  4th  Earl  of  Cork,  452. 

cousin,  54,  108. 

Dean  of  Lismore,  Bishop  of  Cork, 

and  Archbishop  of  Tuam,  138,  269,  283. 

of  Maisemore,  7. 

son  of  Joshua,  496. 

Robert,  52. 

Put  out  to  nurse,  307. 

Educated  by  the  chaplain,  307. 

Accidents,  83,  258,  325. 

His  father's  favourite,  307. 

Truthfulness,  307. 

Eton,  249,  275,  300,  308. 

Petted  by  head-master,  311. 

Bad  health,  324-325. 

Removed   to  Mr.   Douch's  teaching, 

327-328. 

Goes  to  Geneva,  340. 
Letters  from,  405,  450. 
Objects    to    becoming    a    soldier    of 

fortune,  403-405. 
Returns  to  England,  447. 
Refuses  to  be  Provost  of  Eton,  449. 
Later  life,  448-450,  501. 

Autobiography,  xi,  306-307. 

Roger,  father  of  1st  Earl  of  Cork,  3, 

171  n. 

eldest  son  of  Earl  of  Cork,  51. 

Sent  to  England,  58. 
To  Deptford,  59. 
Dress,  60. 
Letter,  60. 
Death,  161. 

Epitaph  and  tomb,  63,  171. 
—  the  grocer,  137,  490. 


Boyle,  Roger,  Baron  Broghill  and  Earl  of 
Orrery,  52,  57. 

Educated  at  Trinity  College,  Dublin, 

308. 

Grand  tour,  299-301. 
Scots  war,  330. 
Brings  news  of  peace,  332. 
London  life,  342. 
Duel,  344. 
Marriage,  349-35°- 
To  Egham  with  Lord  Cork,  356. 
Carries  gold  to  the  king,  357. 
Returns  to  Ireland,  374-375. 
Defence  of  Lismore,  391-393,  398-400. 
Letters,  393,  395. 
Redshard  expedition,  395. 
Detects  forgery  of  Irish  Commission, 

397- 

Applies  for  pay,  411. 

Liscarrol,  424-425. 

Petitions  king  to  disavow  Irish,  443. 

Joint  Commissioner  for  Munster,  431. 

Stopped    by   Cromwell    on    his   way 
abroad,  444. 

Returns    to    Ireland    in    Cromwell's 
interest,  445. 

Supports  Richard  Cromwell,  450. 

Sends  to  Charles  II.,  451. 

Earl  of  Orrery,  451. 

Later  life,  451. 

Sara,  m.  Lord  Digby,  i,  51,  148,  151- 

156,  165,  223-224,  235,  482. 

Thomas,  496. 

Lady  Una  Bourke,  m.  Sir  G.  Boyle 

and  R.  Fisher,  497. 
Boyles,  Lives  of  the,  Budgell,  xi. 
Brady,  Luke,  103-104. 
Bramhall,  Bishop,  209,  263,  266. 
Breda,  siege  of,  230. 
Bridge  Street,  Dublin,  189. 
Bridges — 

Bandon,  83,  458,  492. 

Bennett,  494. 

Cappoquin,  83. 

Fermoy,  495. 

Four  mile  Water,  82,  493. 

Mallow,  83. 
Brien,  Barnaby  (see  O'Brien). 

Thomas,  112. 

Bristol,  12,  27,  106,  459. 

George   Digby,    Earl   of,    155,    290, 

297-298,  359- 


INDEX 


Brodripp,  Captain,  437-438. 

Broghill,  77. 

Brown  family,  134. 

or  Browne,   Sir  John,    II,  69,   285, 

298,  468,  472. 

William,  146. 

Browne,  Christopher,  59,  60,  61. 

Mrs.  (Thamsine  Gonson),  59,  60,  62. 

Sir  Richard,  59,  60. 

Sir  Thomas,  n  «.,  51,  109. 

Sir  Valentine,  II,  72. 

Bruerton,  Lord,  226. 

Bryde  river,  72. 

Bryskett,  Ludovic,  3. 

Buck,  64,  131-133,  499. 

Buckingham,  Duchess  of,  170. 

George  Villiers,  Duke  of,  94,   146, 

161,  162,  166,  172-173. 
Mary,  Countess  of  (mother  of  the 

Duke),  94. 

Budgell,  Lives  of  the  Boyles,  xi. 
Building,  41,  126-127,  217-218,  266,  294- 

295,  456,  460,  469. 
Bulkley,  Archbishop  of  Dublin,  2 1 1. 
Burgh,  Captain,  105. 

Lord  Deputy  (see  Deputy). 

Burt,  Dorothy  (see  Dorothy  Smyth). 
Butler,  family,  381. 

John  of  Cloghbready,  494. 

Richard  of  Kilcash,  416. 

Buttevant,  12,  481. 

David  Fitzjames  Barry,  Viscount,  144. 

Button,  Admiral,  25,  112,  115. 


CADIZ  EXPEDITION,  no. 

Cahir,  T.  Butler,  heir  of  Viscount,  416. 

Calvert,  Sir  George,  IO2. 

Secretary,  93. 

Camphire,  74- 

Cambridge,  80. 

Canterbury  (see  Abbot  and  Laud). 

Cape  Clear,  115,  117. 

Cappoquin,  80,  141,  437. 

Carbery,  115. 

Carew  MSS. ,  Lambeth  Library ,  xi. 
—  Sir  George,  Earl   of  Totness,  Presi- 
dent of  Munster,  16-27,  31-33,  36,  40, 
43,  71,  74,  84,  90,  1 68,  249,  271,  337, 
382,  465. 

Lady,  102. 


Carleton,  Sir  Dudley  (Lord  Dorchester), 

106,  175,  179,  181-183,  190. 
Carlisle,  Earl  of,  156. 
Carriages — 

Coach,  v,  338,  377,  497. 

Hackney  coach,  356. 

Horse  litter,  497. 

Sedan  chair,  433,  499. 
Carrick,  27. 

Carrigaline,  43,  457,  469. 
Carrigfoyle,  19,  20. 
Carrigtohill,  475-476. 
Carrol,  Sir  James,  240. 
Carter,  T.,  406. 
Cartwright,  Bishop,  263  n. 
Gary,  Frangois  de,  307. 

Lucius,  Lord  Falkland,  139-140,  342, 

446-447. 

Robert,  311-323,  327. 

Lady  Victoria,  343. 

Cashel,  389. 

— > —  Archbishop  of,  22. 

Castle  Connagh,  82. 

Connel,  Baron  of,  416. 

Haven,  49,  115. 

Audley,  Earl  of,  163,  207,  290. 

Countess  of,  291. 


Lyons,  149,  202,  379-381,  475- 

Mahon  or  Mahown,  457. 

Castlemaine,  395. 
Castle  Rackrent,  36. 
Castletown  Kinneagh,  vii,  45-46. 
Cathedrals — 

St.  Carthage,  Lismore,  43,   266-267, 

425,  463- 

Christ  Church,  Dublin,  158,  185,  240, 
263. 

St.  Patrick's,  Dublin,  206,  209-214. 

St.  Paul's,  London,  158,  252,  293-294. 
Cattle  thieves,  70-72,  385. 
Caulfield,  Lord,  205. 
Cave,  cousin,  96. 
Cavendish,  Lady  Anne,  453. 

family,  452. 

Cecil,  Sir  Robert,  22,  27-30,  71,  100,  209. 

Cessation  of  Munster  War,  449-450. 

Chamberlain,  Harry,  15. 

Champion,  Arthur,  504. 

Channel  Row,  London,  161. 

Chapel  Izod,  206. 

Charles  I.— 

Opinion  of  John  Boyle's  sermon,  65. 


5i6     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 


Charles  \.—<o*tinued— 

Proclaimed  king,  97-98. 

Claims  on  Desmond  lands,  104, 166-167. 

Admires  Danish  medal,  112. 

Grants  audiences  to  Cork,  162,  175. 

Commands  corn  from  Ireland,  184. 

Negotiates  with  Irish  Catholics,  186- 
187. 

Policy  in  Ireland,  198. 

Refuses  to  receive  Kildare,  219. 

Letters  from  Wentworth,  243,  272. 

Kindly    interview    with    Dungarvan, 
250-251. 

Cork's  confidence  in,  275-276. 

Re-grants  Youghal,  286-287. 

Affability  to  soldiers,  331. 

Makes  matches,  333-336,  340,  423. 

Godfather  to  Dungarvan's  son,  344. 

Dissolves  Short  Parliament,  355. 

Excuses  Cork  from  forced  loan,  356. 

A  game  at  chess,  359. 

Affability  to  officers,  358. 

Consideration  for  Strafford,  359. 

Criticism  of  Scots,  360. 

End  of  personal  rule,  365. 

Hears  Cork's  vindication,  367. 

Endeavours  to  treat  with  Scots,  373. 

Offers  arms  to  Munster  English,  387. 

Forged  commission,  396-397. 

Negotiation  with  Irish,  398. 

Appoints  Portland  President  of  Mun- 
ster, 431. 

Treats  with  Irish,  438-440. 

Effect  on  Ireland  of  his  death,  444, 447, 
Charles  n.,  444,  448,  452. 
Chester,  27,  106. 

Water,  176. 

Chillister,  John,  465. 
Christ  Church  College,  Oxford,  161,  165. 
Christening  cups,  59,  62,  220. 
Christenings,  55,  59,  68,  214,  261. 
Christopher,  Mr.  Robert,  292,  297. 
Church  in  Ireland — 

Laud's  reforms,  263. 

State  of,  79,  371. 
Clancarty,  Lady,  33. 
Clandeboye,  James  Hamilton,  Lord,  345- 

346. 

Clanrickard,  Earl  of,  26,  118,  287,  290. 
Clarendon,  Lord,  Great  Rebellion,  222. 
Clayton,  Anne  Herring,  Lady,  58,  58  «., 
288,  289,  291,  345. 


Clayton,  Sir  Randall,  58,  66,  105,  258-259, 
292. 

Clifford,  Elizabeth,  Viscountess  Dungarvan 
and  Countess  of  Cork  and  Burlington, 
51,  229,  248-257,  259-261,  271-273,  292, 

317,  337,  356,  387,  432,  473- 

Lady,  248,  257,  271. 

Lord,  250,  252-257,  271,  274. 

Clonakilty,  vii,  45,  76,  80,  81,  85,  101, 

no,  114,  115,  408,  410,  502. 
Clonmell,  35,  55,  82,  117,  198,  389. 
Cloyne,  120. 

Bishopric  of,  65. 

George  Synge,  Bishop  of,  371-372, 

498,  505- 
Cockington,  16. 
Coke,  Secretary,  44,  207,  242. 
Cole,  Mary,  499. 

Thomas,  477. 

Coleorton,  33. 
Coleshill,  165. 
Colmen,  Martin,  410. 
Colthurst  of  Lyffynnen,  465. 
Columbus,  113. 
'  Commission  of  grace,  355. 
Committee  from  Irish  parliament,  369. 
Commonwealth,  70,  81. 
Condon,  Honora,  481. 

Morris,  481. 

Patrick,  72. 

Richard,  480. 

William,  480. 

Condon's  Country,  72,  436. 
Condrop,  Mr.,  167. 
Connaie,  Teague,  98. 
Connaught  settlement,  90,  194. 
Conway,  175. 

Lord,  163. 

Cook,  a  clothier,  80. 

Sir  John,  164. 

Coolmaine  Castle,  41 1. 
Coote,  Sir  Charles,  102. 
Coponger,  E.,  461. 
Coppinger,  Edmund,  465. 
Cork  City— 

Carew's  winter  quarters,  26. 

Disloyalty  of,  34-36,  457. 

Forts,  in. 

Harbour,  27,  113,  120. 

Indefensible,  382. 

Siege  of,  399. 

Visits  to,  55,  75- 


INDEX 


5*7 


Cork,  Bishopric  of,  65-66. 

Bishops — 

Boyle,  John  (see  Boyle). 

Richard  (see  Boyle). 

Chappell,  William,  371,  498. 
Cork    and    Orrery,   Countess  of,    Orrery 

Papers,  xi. 

9th  Earl  of,  vi. 

Correction,  houses  of,  193-194. 
Corsairs,  Algerine,  116-118,  237. 
Cotteswold  Games,  130. 
Cottington,  Sir  Francis,  201,  239,  355. 
Council,  English,  172,  180,  184,  189,  191, 

203,  355-356. 
Courthorp,  Peter,  474. 
Courtiers,  grants  and  bribes  to,  38,  66,  77, 

94-96,  109,  162,  164,  166. 
Courtney,  George,  499. 
Coventry,  Lady,  204. 

Lord  Keeper,  91,  167,  169,  204,  356. 

Cox,  Sir  R. ,  History  of  Ireland,  457, 458  n. 

Regnum  Corcagiensis,  97  n. 

Cranfield,  Sir  Lionel,  Earl  of  Middlesex, 

101,  459-460. 

Cre,  or  Ballymore,  Eustace,  173,  240,  498. 
Cripps,  Sir  Edward,  138. 
Crofton,  Henry,  of  Mohill,  135. 

John,  Excheator  General,  7. 

William,  86,  239. 

Croker,  Captain  Hugh,  437,  456,  502. 

Mr.,  of  Ballyanchor,  398,  407. 

Lieut.  Walter,  503. 

Crome  Castle,  420. 
Cromwell,  Henry,  445. 

Oliver,  vi,  198,  444"445- 

Richard,  450. 

Crookhaven,  67,  88,  102. 

Croon,  cousin,  the  Vintner,  137,  175,  369, 

401-402. 

Crosbie,  9,  14,  29. 
Crosby,  56. 

—  Sir  Piers,  174,  297,  366. 
Crow,  Mary  (see  Boyle). 

Sir  Sackville,  102. 

Stephen,  69,  224,  298,  427. 

Cullen,  Dean  of  St.  Patrick's,  205. 
Cumberland,  Francis  Clifford,  4th  Earl  of, 

243- 

Henry,  5th  Earl  of  (see  Clifford,  Lord). 

Cupse,  Cousin  Mary,  496. 
Custom  House — 

Bill  of  Impost,  305. 


Custom  House — continued— 
Dues,  167. 
Farming,  172. 
Officers,  162. 

D 

DABORNE,  Dean  of  Lismore,  163. 
Daniel,   William,   Archbishop  of   Tuam, 

Translator  of  Irish  Testament,  79. 
Dansk,  Stephen,  101. 
Danvers,  Sir  Harry,  26. 
D'Aubignie,  Lord,  349. 
Daunt  family,  136. 
Daventry,  91. 
Davis,  Sir  John,  86-87. 
Dawpool,  Chester,  176. 
Deane,  10. 

Richard,  505. 

Dean  Forest — 

Collieries,  102. 

Deer,  130. 

Debtors'  prisons,  107-108. 
Decon,  Monsieur,  architect,  294. 
Delaney,  Mrs.,  27. 
Denbigh,  Countess  of,  342-343,  356,  374, 

434- 
Earl  of,  52,  250,  252,  342-344,  358- 

359- 
Denham,  Baron,  167. 

Sir  John,  94. 

Denmark,  King  of,  III. 
Deptford,  59,  91,  171,  176. 

Church,  59,  63,  452. 

Deputies,  Lords — 

Burgh,  12,  24. 

Chichester,  86-87,90-92, 116, 145,268. 

Falkland,  89,  98,  114,  139-140,  166- 
167, 173. 177-178, 185, 187,  244, 256. 

Fitzwilliam,  9. 

Mountjoy,  25,  26,  35,  249. 

Perrott,  2,  346. 

St.  John,  124. 
Desmond,  Gerald,  Earl  of,  19,  166,  465. 

James,  the  Queen's  Earl  of,  19,  21-24. 

Rebellion,  18,  97,  266. 

Sugan  Earl  of,  19. 

Thomas,  Earl  of,  273. 

Devonshire,  Duke  of,  vi,  xii. 

William,  4th  Duke  of,  452. 

Digby,  Katherine,  156,  235,  330,483,  488- 

489. 
Kildare,  2nd  Baron,  235,  483,  489. 


518     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL  OF  CORK 


Digby,  Lady,  297: 

-  Lattice,  235,  330,  483,  488-489. 

—  Robert,  Baron,  51,  142,  155-156,  217, 

234,  238,  243,  426,  482-483. 

Sara,  Lady  (see  Boyle). 

loth  Baron  of  Geashill  and   Sher- 

borne,  vi. 
Dillon,  James,  234. 
Dingle,  12,  36,  99,  no,  246,  458. 

pearls,  159. 

Dobson,  a  tailor,  47-48. 
Docwra,  Lady  Anne,  484,  498. 

Lord,  207. 

Donal  Duff  O'Cahill,  109,  1 10,  287. 

Doneraile,  104,  377,  469. 

Donne,  Dean  of  St.  Paul's,  137. 

Dorset,  77. 

Douche,  Vicar  of  Stalbridge,  237. 

Dowdall,  Elizabeth  (see  Lady  Waller). 

-  Sir  John,  54-55,  463. 
Drake's  Pool,  Cork,  120. 
Dress — 

Bands,  falling,  47. 

laced,  311. 

Beaverhal,  237. 

Belt,  163. 

Bills,  48,  260. 

Bodice,  48-49. 

Breeches,  438. 

Brogues,  no. 

Brush  and  combs,  319. 

Buttons,  10,  57,  108,  435,  498. 

Cassock,  64,  162. 

Cloaks,  47,  49,  108,  130,  438,  500. 

Cloth  of  gold,  164. 

Coats,  438,  500. 

Doublets,  of  cloth  of  gold,  500  ;  cloth 
of  silver,  31 1 ;  of  French  green  satin, 
130;  of  tawny  satin,  108,  130,  438. 

Fan,  149  ;  fan  handle,  434. 

Garters  and  roses,  60,  204,  499. 

Gascony  hose,  47. 

Gloves,  138,  140,  176,  304. 

Gowns,  47,  48,  60,  259,  497'498, 
499- 

Handkerchiefs,  204. 

Hatbands,  10,  498. 

Kirtle,  48. 

Mantle,  64. 

Nightcaps,  170,  176,  222. 

Pantables,  89,  304. 

Petticoat,  48. 


Dress — continued — 
•    Pickadel,  60. 

Plush,  345. 

Spurs,  129,  499. 

Stockings,  61,  no,  238. 

Stomacher,  47. 

Suits,  307,  499,  500. 

Sword  and  belt,  499. 

Waistcoat,  296. 
Dromany,  73. 
Drunkards,  king  of,  76. 
Dublin,  1-3,  7,  12,  32,  35,  53,  55,  81,  91, 
129,  152,  191,  217,  221,  223,  235,  241, 
256,  283,  377,  385. 
—  Castle,  185,  207,  220,  237. 
Dunboy,  27. 

Dunboyne,  Lord,  390,  416. 
Duncannon  fort,  383. 
Dungarvan  town,  37,  141,  246,  423. 

Lord  (see  Boyle). 

Dunkirk,  390. 
Dunluce,  Lord,  275. 
Durham,  Bishop  of,  65. 


EDGEHILL,  battle  of,  394. 
Edgeworth  family,  135. 

Miss,  novels,  221. 

Egham,  356. 

Eliot,  Sir  John,  351. 

Elizabeth,   Queen  of  Bohemia,  134,  229- 

230. 
Queen  of  England,  vi,  10,  15    21, 

28-32,  34,  93. 
Elwell,  James,  493. 
England,  change  after  Long  Parliament, 

365. 

prosperity  in  1630,  186. 

Enniskeane,  vii,  45-46. 
Eppesley,  Gabriel,  473,  503. 

Sir  John,  350,  473,  503. 

Esmond,  Lawrence,  Lord,  145,  174,  243, 

297-299,  472,  498. 
Essex,  Robert,  2nd  Earl  of,  13,  14,  17. 

3rd  Earl  of,  298,  394. 

Eton  College,  146-147,  165,  306-310,  448. 

Evans,  Morgan,  496. 

Evelyn,  John,  vi,  34  «.,  59,  452. 

Mrs.,  59. 

Everard,  Sir  John,  86,  239. 
Eyres,  Edward,  490. 
Eyries  (see  Hawks). 


INDEX 


5*9 


FALKLAND  (see  Gary  and  Deputy). 

Fanshaw,  Lady,  Memoirs,  222. 

Farming,  131,  133,  150,  499. 

Fast  days,  136,  205,  314,  319-320,  356- 

Feathers  (Fethard?),  389. 

Fenton,  Alice  Weston,  Lady,  41,  50,  51, 

56,  59,  61,  64,  184,  471. 

Captain  Edward,  59,  63,  171. 

—  Sir  Geoffrey,  2,  6,  32-33,  40,  50,  59, 

10 1,  206-209,  345,  474. 

—  Katherine,  Countess  of  Cork,  33,  41, 

53-58,  61,  95,  205,  307. 

Margaret  (see  Margrett  neen  Gibbon). 

Notts,  33. 


—  Randall,  492. 

-  Sir  William,  50,  54,  73,  88-89,  93-94, 

104,  109,  147,  285,  432,  468,  472,  495, 

499- 

Fermoy,  377,  382. 
Ferrers,  Mr.,  238. 
Ferry,  495. 
Fielding,  Lady  Anne,  249. 

Lady  Elizabeth,   Viscountess   Kinal- 

meaky  and  Countess  of  Guildford,  340, 
343-344,  366,  374,  3^6,  39',  426,  433- 
434,  453,  498. 

Lady  Marie  (Henrietta  Mary?),  304. 

Lady  Mary,  Marchioness  of  Hamilton, 

251. 
Finance — 

Bills  of  Exchange,  109,  303. 
Interest  or  usage,  108. 
Money — Angels,     60,     235 ;     French 
crowns,    123;    horn    pennies,   54; 
marks,  67 ;  ninepences,  54 ;  pieces 
and  pounds,  66 ;   scarcity  of  coin, 
108,  no,  163. 
Statute  staple,  485,  500. 
Finch,  James,   Lieut,   and  Captain,   130, 

221,  407,  500,  501. 
Fingal,  Earl  of,  246. 
Fisher,  Richard,  495. 
Fitz  Edmonds,  Sir  J.,  147. 
Fitzgerald,  Edmund,  of  Ballymallow,  504. 

—  Lady  Ellen,  73. 

—  Garrett  Fitzjohn,  73-74. 

—  George  (see  Earl  of  Kildare). 

—  Gerald  Fitzjohn,  117-118. 
Lady  Honora,  118. 

—  James,  461. 
Maurice,  170. 


Fitzgerald,  Redmond  Fitzjohn,  v,  113,  124. 

Thomas,  of  Rostellan,  119. 

Mrs.    Thomas,    mother    of    George, 

Earl  of  Kildare,  216. 

Tom,  73. 

Fitzgibbon,  Edmund,  the  White  Knight, 

266. 
Fitzwilliam  of  Meryion,  Viscount,  482. 

(see  Deputy). 

Flanders,  255. 
Fleming  family,  136. 
—  John,  477. 

a  pirate,  115. 

/  loyd,  John,  Constable  of  Beleek,  254. 

Mr.,  217. 

Food— 

Ale  and  beer,  123,  135. 

Aquavitae,  135,  398. 

Bacon,  301. 

Beef,    fresh,    135 ;    powdered,    301  ; 

salt,  434. 
Biscuit,  123,  434. 
Butter,  434. 
Cheese,  128,  135. 
Cinnamon  water,  135. 
Cockles,  123. 
Cost  at  Eton,  319. 
Fat  oxen,  304,  361. 
Fish  for  fast  days,  136. 
Fish,  fresh  water,  257  ;  Fumados,  III. 
Marchpane,  214. 
Marmalade,  133. 
Pepper,  114. 
Pilchards,  401. 
Salmon,  301. 
Salt,  421. 

Scallops,  157-158,  304. 
Usquebaugh,  135,  162. 
Venison,  64,  73,  257,  499. 
Wine,  123,  292,  401. 
Fords — 

Blackwater,  436. 
Four-mile  Water,  81-82,  258. 
Lismore,  75. 
Forest,  Mrs.,  77. 

Fosterage,  58,  306;  brother,  24;  sister,  298. 
Fotherly,  Sir  Thomas,  473,  503. 
Fowle,  Sir  Robert,  354. 
Freke,  Arthur,  69,  130,  500. 

Dorothy  (see  Smyth). 

-  Mr.,  331. 
—  William,  69,  131,  298. 


520    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL   OF   CORK 


Frey,  Mr. ,  249. 
Fuel— 

At  Eton,  319. 

For  brewing,  102. 

For  smelting,  102. 
Fullerton,  Sir  James,  465. 
Funerals,  62,  141,  206,  427,  471. 
Furniture — 

Beds,  feather,  319,  336;  flock,  319, 

336- 

Bedcurtains,  258,  296,  319,  346,  396. 
Bedstaff,  128. 
Bedsteads,  47,  127. 
Blankets,  319. 
Cabinet,  222. 
Caddows,  296. 
Carpets,  127,  294,  296,  319. 
Chairs,  127,  194,  336. 
Couch,  296. 
Coverlid,  289. 
Cradles,  58,  307. 
Cushions,  127,  222. 
Linen  for  beds,  258,  319. 
Napkins,  319. 
Rug,  3I9- 

Stools,  127,  296,  336. 
Tablecloth,  319. 
Tapestry,  47,  127. 


GAGGRY,  CORNELIUS,  76. 
Galbally,  12. 
Galway,  80,  113. 
Games — 

Chess,  358. 

Dicing,  135,  238. 

Gleek,  135. 

Mall,  322. 

Mawe,  135,  238. 

Quaiterlo  dicing,  237. 

Tennis,  322. 
Games,  Materials  for — 

Bale  of  dice,  304. 

Bowling  green,  295. 

Pack  of  cards,  304. 
Games — Dotage  on  play,  326. 

Immoderate  play,  233,  339. 

Losses  at  play,  238,  259. 
Gardens — 

Apple,  Harvey,  296. 

Apple-trees,  56. 


Gardens — continued — 

Cane-apple  or  Arbutus,  296. 

Cherries,  Affane,  135. 

Elm  'Career,'  295. 

Hop  Gardens,  336. 

Orchards,  105,  295,  336,  350,  437. 

Pears,  Bergamot,  Bon  Chretien,  296. 

Pleasant  walks,  350. 

Potatoes,  135. 

Terraces,  41,  294. 
Gardiner,  Sir  Robert,  9-10. 
Garrard,  newswriter,  230,  256. 
Gatehouse  prison,  14. 
Geashill,  155,  234,  235. 
Gerald,  Maurice  Fit/Edmund,  465. 
Gerard,  young  Mr.,  445. 
Geroit  Oge,  Great  Earl  of  Kildare,  217. 
Geyrie,  Morishe,  467. 
Gibbon,   Margrett   neen   Morris,   50,  73, 

384- 

Gilbert,  Robert,  474. 
Gilby,  William,  49. 
Glannabwy,  130. 
Glanville,  Mr.,  165,  167. 
Glyn,  20. 
Goden,  Mr.,  56. 
Goodwin,  Dr.,  67,  503. 
Gookin,  Mr.  F.  W.,  457  «. 
Gooking  or  Gookin,  Sir  Vincent,  44  «., 

179-180,  245,  408,  457. 
Goring,  George,  51. 

Marriage,  156. 

Character,  222-223. 

Escapes  from  family  party,  224. 

Liked  by  Strnfford,  224-225. 

Commands  a  regiment  in  Flanders, 
225. 

Borrows  money,  224-226. 

Meets  his  wife  in  London,  230. 

Wounded  at  Breda,  230. 

Governor  of  Portsmouth,  231. 

Letter  from  Cork,  231-233. 

Makes  mischief  with  Lord   Clifford, 
252-253. 

Returns  from  Scotch  war,  332. 

Cork  wishes  for  him,  392. 
Goring,  Lady,  228-233. 

Lord,  Earl  of  Norwich,  156,  226-229, 

232,  233,  348,  363,  388,  433,  485. 
Gormanston,  Viscount,  150. 
Gough  or  Goffe,  Sir  James,  117. 
Gowran,  55. 


INDEX 


521 


Graces  promised  to  Irish,  187,  199,  200, 

440. 
Grand  Jury,  190. 

Tour,  152,  299,  300. 

Grandison,  Lord,  161. 
Grammar  Schools — 

Bandon,  78,  458. 

Lismore,  42,  78. 

Youghal,  78. 
Gratrikes,  John,  474. 
Gravesend,  228. 
Greenwich  Palace,  105,  249. 
Grenville  or  Granville,  Sir  Bernard,  37, 
459-460. 

Sir  Richard,  459. 

Grosart,  Dr.  Alexander,  x,  3  «. 
Gwyn,  Arthur,  264-265. 

Cousin  Joan,  226. 

Gwyr,  George,  157. 


H 

HACKWELL,  WILLIAM,  478. 
Hadsor,  king's  lawyer,  165,  167. 
Hague,  The,  134,  229-230,  433. 
Hall,  Mr.,  66. 

Hals,  Halse,  or  Halce,  Captain,  175. 
Hamilton,  Sir  Claude,  189,  191. 
—  Sir  George,  189,  191. 

Mr.  James,  345-346- 

Marquis  of,  343,  358. 

Sir  William,  189,  191. 

Hampton,  348. 

Court,  90. 

Harris,  Sir  E.,  106,  459. 

-  Sir  John,  459. 
Harrison,  John,  Head-master  of  Eton,  309, 

311-312,  315,  319,  327. 
Mrs.,  Maid  of  Honour,  344,  347'348. 

374- 

Hatfield,  252. 

Hawkins,  Captain  John,  79. 
Hawks — 

Falcons,  88-89,  94.  *47- 

Goshawk,  88,  147. 

Merlin,  88. 

Tercel  gentle,  88,  94,  139. 
Heath,  Attorney-General,  167. 
Hedges,  Robert,  481. 
Henrietta  Maria,  Queen,   164,   192,   333- 
335.  34°,  342-343.  433.  453- 


Hereford,  8. 

Herefordshire,  3. 

Hervey,  Roger,  24. 

Hewitt  family,  136. 

Highwaymen,  64. 

Hillbree  Island,  91. 

Hillier,  George,  of  Bristol,  292,  469. 

Hoggen  Green,  Dublin,  190,  190  «. 

Holderness,  Earl  of,  38. 

Holford,  Thomas,  490. 

Holland,  Earl  of,  249-250,  251,  348. 

Hooker,  George,  501. 

Hooper  of  Killeigh,  75. 

Horoscopes,  52. 

Horses — 

Coach,  363. 

Gelding,  153. 

Hackney,  75. 

Horse-breeding,  131,  298,  449. 

Mares  for  riding,  139,  163,  432. 

Oats  for,  435. 

Post,  291. 

Saddle,  291. 
Names  of— 

Bay  Audley,  133. 

Bay  Eddow,  133. 

Bay  Thomond,  148. 

Black  Carew,  133. 

Grey  Brown,  224. 

Grey  Coote,  330,  357. 

Grey  Eddow,  133. 

Grey  Muskerry,  330. 

Grey  Purdan,  357. 
Horsie,  Mr.  Ralph,  152. 
Howard,  Mrs.  Anne,  432,  449,  485. 

(see  Harrison). 

Margaret,  Lady  Broghilland  Countess 

of  Orrery,  349-35°.  3^5.  3^7.  39*>  399. 
431*  432>  45J»  497- 

Mr.  Thomas,  344,  347-348- 

Hull,  Lady  (see  Mrs.  John  Boyle). 

Mary  (Mrs.  Edward  Boyle),  67. 

Mr.,  of  Clonakilty,  114. 

Sir   William,   67,    101,    114,    289, 

5°3- 
Hunt,  Mr.  John,  404,  500. 

Huntingdon,  65. 
Hurstmonceau,  230. 
Hy  Brasil  or  O  Braseel,  112-113. 
Hyde  family,  136. 

Freemason  of  Sherborne,  294-295. 

Judge,  164. 


522     LIFE   OF   THE  GREAT   EARL  OF   CORK 


i 

IKERIN,  PIERCE  BUTLER,  VISCOUNT,  380, 

416. 

lies,  Dr.,  Principal  of  Hart  Hall,  175. 
Ilfordcombe  (Ilfracombe),  309. 
Inchiquin,  Murough  O'Brien,  Earl  of,  397, 

407, 412-414,  424-426,  430, 435,  437.443- 

Elizabeth  St.  Leger,  Countess  of,  384. 

Inniskeane,  75. 
Interpreter,  73. 
Ireland — 

Condition  in  1588,  xii,  4-6,  455. 
1614,  87. 

1630,  192. 

1631,  205. 
1633,  209. 
1644,  376,  383. 

Established  Church  in,  79,  84,   186, 

188,  190,  191,  263,  270. 
Imports — 

Bath  stone,  105. 

Corn,  402. 

Fruit,  401. 

Iron,  loo. 

Wine,  401-402. 
Industries — 

Bone-lace,  81. 

Corn  exports,  184. 

Fisheries,  vii,  67,  99,  101-102,  401, 
461. 

Glassworks,  106. 

Hides  and  tallow,  99,  401. 

Marble  quarries,  105. 

Mines  and  Smelting — Copper,  105, 
122 ;  iron,  vii,  90,  101,  141,  267, 
456,500;  lead,  105;  silver,  vi,  105. 

Timber  and  pipe  staves,  90,  loo, 
IOI,  401,  459. 

Tobacco,  105-106. 

Weaving,  linen,  100. 

—  woollen,  98, 106,  157,  162, 438. 
Rebellion  of  1598,  12,  13. 

of  1641,  376-377. 

Rebels'  reasons  for  taking  up  arms,  6, 

74,  379.  396. 
Rebels'  treatment  of  English,  13,  383- 

385,  409. 

State  Papers  for  Ireland,  vi. 
Taxation — 

Recusancy  fines,  188,  200,  201. 

Subsidies,  186-187,  199,  201,  242, 
245-247  (see  also  under  Boyle's 
Public  Finance). 


J 

James  I, — 

Proclaimed  outside  Cork,  35. 

Irish  opinion  of,  34. 

Claims  Ralegh's  property,  38. 

Pain  in  his  toe,  65. 

Lectures  Irish  legislators,  86. 

Plans  Ulster  settlement,  87-88. 

Accepts  Irish  hawks,  88-89. 

Grants  audiences  to  Boyle,  90-91. 

Borrows  money,  no. 

Patronises  Cotteswold  games,  130. 

Kindness  to  Lord  Barry,  146. 

Death,  97. 

Jephson,  Captain,  397,  407,  431. 
Jermyn,  Mr.,  224. 

Sir  Thomas,  485. 

Jesuits,  189-190. 
Jewels — 

Agate,  158. 

Diamond  fan  handle,  434. 
— -  hatband,  498. 

—  lucky  ring,  6,  498. 
memorial  rings,  498. 

—  ring,  432. 
Diamonds,  unset,  158. 

Feather  of  diamonds  and  rubies,  49- 

50. 

Gold  ring  with  arms,  7. 
Jewel  of  Lady  Coventry,  204. 
Pearls,   Irish,   50,   259;    Orient,   50; 

Necklace,  343. 

Sir  Walter  Ralegh's  stone,  125,  497. 
Jobson,  Humphry,  45. 

Margaret,  45. 

William,  45. 

John,  King  of  England,  149,  158. 
Jolliffe,  Captain  Richard,  500. 
Jones,      Sir      Arthur,      afterwards      2nd 
Viscount  Ranelagh,  51,   158,  215,  233- 
234,  299,  339,  446. 

Frances  (ffrank),  339. 

Lessee  of  Youghal  College  House, 

274. 

Sir  William,  125. 

Joslen,  Dr.,  146. 
Judges'  circuits,  72,  224. 
Justices,  Lords,  Boyle  and  Loftus,  175  et 
seqq.,  207-208. 

Sir    W.    Parsons    and    Sir    J. 

Borlase,  369,  372,  376,  378-379,  383, 
386,  412,  413,  431. 


INDEX 


523 


K 


KEMYS,  CAPTAIN,  121,  124. 
Kendall,  Mr.,  75. 
Kenland,  John,  462. 
Kent,  3. 

Kentish  patriotism,  309. 
Ker,  Lord  Henry,  310. 
Kerry,  vii,  18,  71. 

cows,  76. 

Kettlewell,  Michael,  14. 

Kilbolan  bog,  425. 

Kilbree,  270. 

Kilbrittan  Castle,  410. 

Kilcolman  Castle,  13. 

Kilcullen,  55. 

Kildare,  George  Fitzgerald,  i6th  Earl  of, 

5i- 

Orphan  childhood,  215-216. 

At  Oxford,  165,  216. 

Wardship  passed  to  Lord  Cork,  216. 

Marriage  arranged,  175. 

Wedding,  217,  248. 

Maynooth  restoration,  217. 

Builders  not  paid,  218. 

Batters  silver  plates,  219. 

Quarrels  with  Strafford,  219. 

Flight  to  England,  219. 

Imprisoned,  220-221. 

Debts,  216,  220,  503. 

Dowers  gentlewoman,  129. 

Visits  Lord  Cork  in  sickness,  289. 

'  Little  mad  Lord,'  331. 

Refuses    offers    of    insurgent    Irish, 

384- 

Governor  of  Dublin,  385. 
Kildare  Hall,  Dublin,  190. 
Kilfenora,  Bishop  of,  191. 
Kilfinny  Castle,  420. 
Kilkenny,  76. 
Killala,  Archibald  Adair,  Bishop  of  Killala 

and  of  Waterford,  370. 
Killeen,  Lord,  92,  170. 
Killigrew,  Elizabeth  (Mrs.  Francis  Boyle, 

afterwards  Countess  of  Shannon),   52, 

333.  336,  339,  340-342,  356,  365,  375, 

45°,  453- 

Sir  R.,  Vice- Chamberlain,  52,  333. 

Thomas,  341. 

Kilmacke,  80. 
Kilmainham,  190. 
Kilmallock,  23. 


Kilmallock,  Sir   W.    Sarsfield,  Viscount, 

48,  415,  474. 
Kilmolish,  270. 
King,  Captain,  124. 
Kingston-on-Thames,  174. 
Kinsale,  25,  26,  98,  119,  161. 
Kirke,  Mrs.,  344. 
Knevett,  Randall,  466. 


LACEY  FAMILY,  134. 
Lambert,  John,  a  slater,  372. 

Lord,  354. 

Lambeth,  293. 

Lancaster,  John,  79,  503. 

Lanester,  Colonel,  399. 

Langton,  J.,  Mayor  of  Bandon,  409-410, 

492-493- 
Laud,  Archbishop,  vii,  78,   136  «.,  162, 

206,  209-213,  252,  256,  261-263,  266- 

271,  293-294,  352. 
Learn  Con  Caslle,  67,  114. 
Leap  River,  45. 
Ledbury,  3  n. 
Lee,  Sir  Henry,  of  Ditchley,  137. 

Mr.  Sidney,  165. 

Leech,  Ancient,  445. 
Leeke,  Biddy,  298-299. 

-Sir John,  73,  94,  132,  146,  149-150, 

154,   164,    220,    226-227,    234,    256,  338, 

346,  371,  374,  378,  386,  432-433,  495- 

496. 

Leger,  Mr.,  54. 
Leicester,   Earl    of,    Lord  -  Lieutenant  of 

Ireland,  372,  378,  387. 
Leinster,  72. 

6th  Duke  of,  vi. 

Leitrim,  102. 
Lem  Con,  67,  114,  115. 
Lennox,  Duke  of,  358. 
Lever,  Charles,  71. 
Lewes,  322-323. 
Ley,  Manor  of,  220. 
Limerick,  II,  35,  72. 
Liscarrol,  battle  of,  52,  424-426. 

castle  of,  424. 

Lisfinnon,  8,  132. 

Lisle,  Philip,  Viscount,  431. 

Lismore — 

Almshouses,  42,  492. 
Bishop  of,  461. 


524     LIFE   OF  THE   GREAT   EARL   OF  CORK 


Lismorc — continued — 

Boyle,  M.P.  for,  85. 

Cathedral,  43,  266-267,  463. 

Chapter  of,  267,  270. 

Charles  I.  proclaimed  at,  98. 

Free  school,  492. 

Markets,  461. 

Poor,  legacy  to,  502. 

Taxation  of,  246. 

Threatened  by  Irish,  389. 
Lismore  Castle,  42,  56,  126-128,  136-137, 
141,  156,  221,  224,  237,  437. 

ford,  75. 

Papers,  xxi. 

Litchfield,  59. 

Little  Island,  105. 

Liverpool,  106. 

Loddon,  John,  the   freemason,  82,   493- 

494- 
Loftus,   Sir  Adam   (Viscount   Ely),   159, 

172-174,    177-179,    185,   237-243,   270, 

280-282,  285,  497-499- 
Sir  Arthur,  51,  159,   161,   165,  215, 

222,  503. 

Sir  Nicholas,  503. 

Sir  Robert,  208. 

Loghgirr  Castle,  421. 

Loghmay,  Baron  of,  389. 

Loghmoe,    Theobald   Purcell,    Baron    of, 

416. 
London,  88,  90,  161,  249,  293,  338,  356, 

362,  365.  369,  374,  432,  444,  446-448. 

Bridge,  344. 

Londonderry,  445. 
Loughfoil,  92. 
Louth,  Lord,  92. 
Lownt,  David,  461. 
Lowsie  Hill,  Dublin,  207. 
Lowther,  Mr.,  preacher  at  Youghal,  79. 
Sir  Garrett    or    Gerard,    104,  260, 

278-280,  499,  504. 
Lyons,  403. 

M 

MACAULAY,  LORD,  357. 
Macroom,  469. 
Madrid,  182. 
Maguire,  Manus,  120. 
Mahaffy,  Irish  State  Papers,  vi. 
Mahaffey,  Greek  Civilization,  163. 
Mahomet,  214. 


Maidenhead,  165. 
Maid,  Mr.,  of  Currypool,  131. 
Mallow,  141,  469. 
Manchester,  Countess  of,  304. 

Earl  of,  356. 

Mansfield,  Anne  (see  Naylor). 

Manwood,  Sir  Richard,  4. 

Marcombes,  Mr.,  the  tutor,  299,  300,  340- 

342,  347,  375,  402,  405,  448,  451. 
Marston  Bigot,  350,  375. 
Martell,  Alderman  Thomas,  476. 
May,  Sir  Humphry,  89,  91. 
Maynard,  Captain,  445. 
Maynooth,  385. 

Castle,  206,  217-218,  220-221. 

M'Carthie,  136. 
M'Carthy,  Donough,  71. 

Florence,  74  ». 

Reagh,  107,  408. 

McCragh,  Daniel,  494. 

Philip  M 'Daniel,  493. 

Roger,  493. 

McSheye,  Manus,  465. 
McSweeny,  Owen  O'Loghie,  496. 
Mead,  George,  77. 

Recorder  of  Cork,  34. 

Robert,  77,  504. 

Mears,  John,  121,  169. 
Medicines — 

Bezoir  stone,  61,  162,  304. 

Chenery  roots,  1 14. 

Country  'yeartar,'  304. 

Sarsaparilla,  115. 

Spirits  of  amber,  304. 

Unicorn's  horn,  61. 
Mellifont  Abbey,  7,  151-155. 
Meredith,  Lady,  204. 

Sir  Robert,  178. 

Milford,  106,  161. 

Milton,  John,  432,  446-447. 

Minehead,  Somerset,  161,  309,  330,  336, 

375,  384- 

Waterford,  105. 

Moaky,  John,  410. 

Mogeely,  57,  121. 

Moore,  Edward,  of  Bandon,  86. 

Sir  Edward  (afterwards  Lord  Moore), 

7,  92,  135,  I5I- 

Lady  (Mary  Colley),  7,  151-155. 

Sir  Thomas,  51,  151-155. 

Mordaunt,  Lord,  310,  314. 
Morgel,  cousin,  54. 


INDEX 


525 


Morley,  Edward,  475. 

Mountgarret,  Edmund   Butler,  Viscount, 

380,  389,  390. 

Mounlnorris,  Sir   F.  Annesley,  Viscount, 
89,   140,    180-181,   183,   185,   191,  202, 
242-243,  283,  297-298. 
Music — 

Blind  harper,  135. 

Irish  harp,  91,  109,  204. 

Musicians,  135,  303. 

Queen  Anne's  harper  (see  Donal  Duff). 

Singing  lessons,  317. 

Viol,  317. 
Muskerry,  Lady,  446. 

Viscount,  376,  379-380,  416. 

Munster — 

Condition  in  1600,  vii. ,  12,  36-37,  455 ; 
in  1641,  370,  389. 

Doubtful  progress,  74. 

Elizabethan  settlement,  87,  455-456. 

Farmers,  77,  183. 

Gentry,  136. 

Merchants,  49. 

Rebellion  under  Desmond,  12,  18,  42, 
67,  99,  266. 

Rebellion  of  1641,  379,  385,  et  seqq. 

Roads  in,  43,  81. 

Romanist  gentry,  416. 
Murray,  Will,  358. 
Muschamp,  Sir  Agmondsham,  408. 
Myagh,  Garrett,  475. 
Myn,  Colonel,  438. 


N 

NAYLER  OR  NAYLOR,  JOAN,  3,  171. 

John,  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  478. 

Robert,  of  Canterbury,  3. 

Robert,     Dean    of    Lismore    and 

Limerick,  129,  496. 
Thomas,  496. 


Naylor,  Anne  Mansfield,  wife  of  Dean,  138. 
Neville,  Ann,  129. 

Mr.,  347. 

Newburgh,  Lord,  362. 
Newburn,  Battle  of,  360. 
Newbury,  Battle  of,  447. 
Newcastle,  Duke  of,  356. 

Co.  Limerick,  420. 

Newce,  Captain,  43,  457. 
William,  492. 


Newcestown,  457. 

Newington  Green,  174. 

Newmarket,  56,  71. 

Newport,  Earl  of,  298. 

Newton  family,  475-476. 

Nicholas,  Herbert,  492. 

Nigel,  Fortunes  of,  89. 

Norris,  Sir  Thomas,  24,  40,  274. 

Northall,  house  of  Earl  of  Bedford,  165. 

Northampton,  sons  of  Spencer  Compton, 

2nd  Earl  of,  310. 
Northumberland,  Earl  of,  89. 
Norton,  Captain,  139. 

Sir  Dudley,  154. 

Norwich,  Earl  of  (see  Goring). 
Noye,  Attorney-General,  167. 
Nuce  (see  Newce). 
Nuns,  190. 


OATLANDS,  175,  251,  356. 

O'Brian,  Darby,  493-494. 

O'Brien  or  Brien,  Barnaby,  6th   Earl   of 

Thomond,  86,  98  «. ,  239. 
O'Broder,  Thomas,  490. 
O'Byrne,  clan,  180. 
O'Conner,  clan,  71. 
O'Donnell,  Red  Hugh,  18,  25,  26. 
O'Dullany,  Teige,  72. 
O'Feighe,  John,  462. 
Offaley,  Lettice  Fitzgerald,  Baroness,  155, 

163,  235. 

Ogle,  Sir  William,  421. 
O'Grady,  Hugh,  Bishop  of  Meath,  50. 
Oisin,  112. 

O'Leary's  country,  88. 
O'Mahony,  Teague,  67. 
O'More,  clan,  71. 
O'Mulcaghie,  David,  496. 

D  enough,  496. 

Philip,  482. 

O'Neil,  Con,  heir  of  Lord  Tyrone,   182, 

3"- 

Owen  Roe,  397. 

Orange,  Prince  of,  402-403. 

Ormond,       Lady       Elizabeth      Preston, 

Baroness    of    Dingwall,    Countess    of, 

297,  389- 

Lady  Helen    Barry,    Countess    of, 

144-146. 

James    Butler,    Earl,   Marquis    and 


526     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT  EARL  OF   CORK 


Duke  of,  27,   196-198,  238,   243,  353, 

387,  427,  439,  444,  494. 
Ormond,  plantation  in,  196-198. 
O'Rourk's  country,  99. 
Orrery  Papers,  xi. 

John,  5th  Earl  of,  452-453- 

Roger,  1st  Earl  of  (see  Boyle). 

Roger ;  1st  Earl  of  ,  Life  of,  xi. 

— •  Roger,  2nd  Earl  of,  451. 
Osborne,  Dorothy,  Letters,  347. 

—  Nicholas,  494. 

Richard,  494. 

Ossory,  Lord  of  Upper,  389. 
O'Sullivan,  Daniel,  of  Bere,  296,  408. 
Owens,  Captain,  292. 
Oxford,  165,  175,  216. 


PAGE,  MR.,  80. 
Painting — 

Chapel  at  Lismore,  266. 

Portraits,  152. 

Palmer,  Dean  of  Peterborough,  270. 
Parliament  of  England,  Long — 

Demands  of,  186. 

Summoned,  360-361. 

Meets,  365. 

Refuses    to    convey    royal    arms    to 
Munster,  385. 

Is  begged  for  help,  390. 

Sends  money,  401. 

Receives  Cork's  letter   to   Lenthall, 

414-424. 
Parliament  of  England,  '  Short,'  355. 

-    of    Ireland,   85-86,    186-187,    242- 

244,  257,  351.  353- 

of  Scotland,  332. 

Parr,  Henry,  475. 
Parsons,  Lady,  56,  238. 

—  Sir  Laurence,  56-57,  90,  95-97,  115, 

121,  146,  153,  273. 

-  Oliver,  475. 

Richard,  484. 

Sir  William,  Lord  Justice,  243,  270, 

282,  285,  430,  468,  472,  498,  499,  504 

(see  also  Justices,  Lords). 
Pawlett,  Sir  J.,  421. 
Pedlar,  81. 

Peers,  Mr.  Henry,  94. 
Pembroke,  Philip,  4th  Earl  of,  131,  275. 
Pennington,  Captain,  124. 
Penruddock,  Sir  Thomas,  75. 


Pepys  Diary,  239,  310. 
Percival,  Sir  Philip,  484. 
Perkin  Warbeck,  35. 

Perkins,  the  tailor,  134,  165,  230,  293-294, 
304,  310,  313,  331,  402,  404. 
—  W.,  Lord  Mayor,  297,  308. 
Perrott  (see  Deputy). 
Pewter,  319,  336. 

Philaretus  (see  Robert  Boyle's  Biography). 
Physicians — 

Eton  doctor,  325. 

Dr.  Higgins,  291. 

Jacob  Longe,  289. 

London  doctors,  61-62,  324. 
Piers,  Rev.  W.,  D.D.,  Canon  of  Christ 

Church,  Oxon.,  175. 
Pirates,  64,  72,  113-116,  161,  214,  217. 
Pixley,  3  «. 
Plate— 

George  Goring's,  363. 

Gold,  256. 

Gilt  salt-cellar,  498. 

Sale  of,  127,  402. 

Silver,  105,  127,  276,  449,  497'499- 

White  plate,  472. 
Plymouth,  49,  119. 
Poer  (see  Power  and  Barry). 
Pope,  blesses  Irish  cause,  440. 
Porter,  Endymion,  95,  166. 
Portland,   Sir  Richard  Weston,  Earl   of, 

33,  184,  213,  431. 
Portsmouth,  231-232. 
Poultry  prison,  107. 
Power,  Dick,  69,  297,  330. 

Edmund  Og,  461. 

Pierce,  8,  69,  109. 

—  Roger,  69,  161,  477,  499. 

Sir  William,  173-174,  425. 

Poynings'  Law,  243. 
Presbyterians,  181,  191,  329. 
Presents,  60,  153,  157,  162,  164,  165,  167, 
176,  204,  235,  276,  289,  292,  304,  432, 

435- 

Preston,  3. 
Price,  Captain,  22,  204. 

Dr.,  75. 

Protestants  in  Ireland,  viii,  45,    84,   86, 

392,  417- 

Pruddenragh,  496. 
Purcell,  General,  437. 

Major,  396. 

Purse,  61,  129,  162,  294. 


INDEX 


527 


Pursuivant  at  Arms,  206. 

Pym,  John,  264. 

Pyne,  Henry,  of  Mogeeley,  57,  100,  121. 

John,  56-57. 


QUIN,  COUSIN  ANNE,  228. 


RAFFINGTON,  HENRY,  502. 
Ralegh,  Carew,  123,  170. 
—  Lady,  165,  168-169. 

or  Raleigh,   Sir  Walter,   21,   37-38, 

102,  105,  209. 
Sells  ship  to  Boyle,  19. 
House  at  Youghal,  39,  57,  121. 
Grants  of  Munster  land,  40,  166,  268, 

466. 

Conditions  of  grants,  454. 
List  of  lands,  461-465. 
Sells  to  Boyle,  31-32,  463. 
Receives  purchase  money  in  prison, 

'       38,  124- 

Sails  on  Guiana  voyage,  1 19- 

Farewell  visit  to  Munster,  120-124. 

Return,  124. 

Death,  121,  125. 
Ralegh,  Walter,  123. 

Ramsey,  Sir  John,  Earl  of  Holderness,  38. 

Ranelagh,  Sir  Roger  Jones,  1st  Viscount, 

215,  247,  249,  255,  260,  278-279,  338, 

367,  389,  497-498,  503. 

Ratcliffe,  Sir  George,  104,  241,  260,  278- 

279,  282-284. 
Rathcormac,  108. 
Rathfarnham,  159,  222. 
Rathkeele,  420. 
Rawson,  10. 
Raylton,  Mr.,  353. 
Red  Shard  Pass,  395-397. 
Reed,  Mr.,  276. 
Renny,  139. 
Rice,  Captain,  176. 
Rich,  Charles,  4th  Earl  of  Warwick,  52, 

347-349.  453,  455-456,  503-504- 
Richardson,  Chief  Justice,  164,  212. 
Richesis,  Abraham,  484. 
Richmond,  Mary,  Duchess  of,  374. 
Ridgeway,  Lord  Chancellor  of  Ireland,  89. 
Ringsend,  176. 


Roberson,  253. 

Roche,  94. 

David,  Viscount,  109,  123,   146-147, 

408,  416. 

David  FitzEdmund,  462. 

Edmund,  461. 

Eustace,  461. 

Mr.  James,  492. 

—  John  FitzThomas,  461. 

Redmond,  69,  481. 

—  Sir  Tibbott,  137. 

-  Ulick,  481. 
Rochelle  expedition,  in. 
Rolls,  Master  of  (England),  362. 
Romanists,  vii,  44-45,  84,   188-190,  201, 

379- 

Friars  and   priests,  viii,   74  «.,    136, 
188-191,  390. 

Grievances,  186-187. 

Loyalty  in  England,  439. 

Pilgrimages,  192-193. 
Rooth,  Mr.,  494. 

Roscommon,  Earl  of,  261,  503-504. 
Rosmayne,  109. 
Ross,  Mr.,  49. 
Rossington,  Henry,  481. 
Rostellan,  120. 
Rowley,  Mr.,  49. 
Royston,  65,  91. 
Ruffen,  Mr.,  152. 
Rugg,  Mr.,  285. 


SALISBURY,  WILLIAM  CECIL,  2nd  EARL 

OF,  49,  248,  252-254,  256. 
Sareen,  69. 
Sarsfield  (see  Kilmallock). 

Justice,  98. 

Savoy  Chapel,  261. 

Palace,  337-339,  342,  361-362. 

Says  Court,  59. 
Scariff,  102. 
Scots — 

Opposition  to  king,  328. 

First  Scots  war,  330-333. 

Second  Scots  war,  357-360. 

Invasion  of  England,  361. 

King  turns  to,  373. 
Sculptors — 

Tingham,  206,  217-218. 

Watts,  Christopher,  294. 


528     LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 


Seckerstone,  Elizabeth  (see  Boyle). 

Roger,  138. 

Septpartite  settlement,  260,  349. 
Servants — 

Badnedge  (see  Badnedge). 

Beecher,  Lionel,  505. 

Booth,  Gerrard,  386. 

Britton,  W.,  175. 

Gary  (see  Gary,  Robert). 

Chettle,  William,  130,  304,  343,  500, 

SOI,  5°3- 

Cross,  Thomas,  301-303. 
Dauntsey,  T.,  386. 
Deys,  Richard,  505. 
Eddow,  John,  130,  501,  505. 
Evesham,  Mrs.  Mary,  129. 
Forster  or  Foster,  James,   152,   161, 

500. 

John,  500. 

Gibbons,  Davy,  129,  130,  134,  501. 

Hooker,  Charles,  501. 

Hopwood,  Mrs.  Letitia,  128. 

Howard,  Epinetus,  128. 

Hynson,  Mr.,  277. 

Jackson,  John,  500. 

Langdale,  Clerk  of  the  Kitchen,  301, 

337,  5oi,  505- 

Malperos,  148. 

Mansfield,  Mrs.  Anne,  129. 

M'Carthy,  Donough,  129. 

Moore,  Mr.  Thomas,  502. 

Murray,  Steward,  382. 

Naroon,  John,  130. 

Neville,  Mrs.  Anne,  129. 

Pompfret,  Thomas,  501. 

Prust,  Abraham,  501. 

Raffington,  Mr.  Henry,  502. 

Roseen,  Nan,  291. 

Smethwick,  Henry,  501. 

Turlogh,  249. 

Vaughan,  128. 

Watt,  John,  88. 

Wilmot,  John,  303. 
Seymour,  Mr.  Edward,  131. 
Shandon  Castle,  27. 
Shannon,  ist  Earl  of  (see  Francis  Boyle). 

6th  Earl  of,  vi. 

—  Henry,  Earl  of,  451. 
-  Park,  453. 
Shelbury,  Captain,  125. 
—  'old  Mr.'  125,  169. 
Sherbome,  161,  290,  294-295,  297-298. 


Sherburne,  169. 

Sherlock,  Mrs.  Elles  (see  Barry). 

Margaret,  147,  292. 

Patrick,  145. 

Ships— 

Biskaner,  1 60. 
Lion's  Whelps,  175,  292. 
The  Pearl,  in. 
The  Pennington,  401. 
The  Ruth,  421. 
Shortred,  Zachary,  477. 
Shylock,  66. 
Sidney,  Sir  Henry,  50. 

i  Sir  Philip,  109. 

Skipton  Castle,  256-257. 
Slingsby,  Mr.,  101. 
I  Smallpox,  56,  137,  300,  421. 
1  Smerwick  massacre,  2. 
;  Smith,  Dr.  Charles,  History  of  Co.  Cork, 
xi. 

!  Mr.  James,  of  Torrington,  303. 

John,  484. 

—  SirT.,  TOI. 

i  widow,  480. 

,  Smyth  or  Smith,  Alice,  m.  W.  Wiseman 
and  Redmond  Roche,  69,  469. 

Boyle,  69,  300. 

Boyle  (son  of  Sir  Percy),  497. 

Dorothy,  m.   T.    Burt  and  A. 

Freke,  69,  298. 

Katherine,  m.  W.  Supple,  69, 

138,  298,  497. 

Lady  (Mary  Mead),  497. 

Sir  Percy,  69,    152,    435,  446, 

468,  472-473,  482,  497,  499- 

Sir  Richard  of  Ballynetra,  8,  69, 

140,  465,  497. 

family,  292. 

Snell,  Rev.  William,  503. 

Somerse*    Sir  Thomas,  Viscount  Cashel, 

68,  145-148. 
Southampton,  sons  of  Thomas  Wriothsley, 

4th  Earl  of,  314. 
Southwell,  Sir  Richard,  129. 
Spa,  444. 
Spain — 

Armada  of,  I. 
Exiles  in,  74,  74  «.,  182. 
Infanta  of,  34. 

Invasion  of  Munster,  25-26,  182. 
Philip,  king  of,  9,  19,  26,  35. 
Spectacles,  498. 


INDEX 


529 


Spenser,  Edmund,  3,  8,   13,   69,  74,   79, 
109,  121. 

Elizabeth  (see  Boyle). 

Hugolin,  139. 

Katherine,  69. 

Peregrine,  139. 

Sport— 

Hunting,  13,  127,  131-133,  445- 

Mastiff  dog,  167. 

Races,  238. 

Wolf-hounds,  133-134,  230. 

St.  James's  Palace,  249. 

St.  John  (see  Deputy). 

St.  John's  College,  Cambridge,  268,  270. 

Oxford,  268,  270. 

St.  Leger  of  Annory,  336. 

Anthony,  7. 

family,  134. 

Gertrude  de  Vries,  Lady,  384,  391. 

Sir  Warham,  3,  7. 

Sir  William,   President  of  Munster, 

104,  no,  114,  131,  166,  191,  377-378, 
382,  384,  386,  388,  395-397,  399,  400, 
412. 

St.  Patrick's,  Dean  of,  206,  21 1. 

Purgatory,  192-193. 

Stafford,  Lady,  304,  333,  334,  340,  348. 

Sir  Thomas,   18  «.,  90-91,   93,  97, 

137,  164,  227,  229,  231,  233,  238,  293- 
294,  297,  299,  301,  333,  337,  340,  344, 
361,  387,  433,  478,  498. 

Staines,  161. 

Stalbridge,    233,   290-297,   301,   327-328, 

332-333,  336,  374-375,  385.  448. 

Stanhope,  Sir  John,  29,  30. 

Stanmore,  59. 

Star  Chamber,  Court  of,  258,  265,  276. 

Stevens,  Thomas,  170-171. 

Steward,  Thomas  (see  Howard). 

Stone,  91,  175. 

Stoughton,  Nathaniel,  105. 

Strafford,  Sir  Thomas  Wentworth,  Earl  of, 
v,  vii,  89,  104,  181,  192-193,  198-199, 
200-207,  219,  223-225,  230,  236-239, 
241-250,  252-256,  260-272,  350,  353, 
359,  366-368,  417. 

Stafford's  Letters,  158. 

Strongbow's  tomb,  158. 

Strongman,  Captain,  500. 

Jack,  73. 

Suffolk,  164. 

Supple,  Katherine  (see  Smyth). 


Supple,  Morrice,  473. 

William  Fitzedmund,  58-59,  69,  73, 

298. 
Synge,  George,  Bishop  of  Cloyne,  371-372, 

498. 


TAILOR,  NED,  Lady  Barrymore's,  345. 

Talbot,  51. 

Tallagh  or  Tallow — 

Assizes,  74. 

Building  of,  43,  462. 

Charles  I.  proclaimed,  98. 

Church  and  town,  43. 

Ironmines,  102,  456. 

Lawsuits,  460. 

Overtaxed,  246-247. 

Parliamentary  franchise,  85. 

Poor,  legacy  to,  502. 

Religious  teaching,  79. 

Trainband  musters,  75. 

War-time,  382,  407,  438,  456. 
Tara  Brooch,  49. 
Taunton,  161. 
Taylor,  Mrs.,  77. 
Temple,  Middle,  4,  12,  167,  169. 

Sir  William,  347. 


Tenby,  88. 
Terry  family,  475-476. 
Theatricals,  135,  237-238. 
Theobalds,  97,  184. 

Thomond,  Donatus  O'Brien,  Great  Earl  of, 
50, 56, 60-6 1, 72, 94, 97, 106, 139-140, 163. 
Henry  O'Brien,  afterwards  5th  Earl 


of,  85,  98. 

7th  Earl  of,  346. 

Thornhill,  Captain,  432. 
Thornton,  Sir  George,  23. 
Ticknor,  77. 
Timoleague,  74  «. ,  438. 
Tircullen,  76. 
Tombs,  Boyle— 

At  Preston,  171,  472. 

St.  Patrick's,   206,  209-214,  235-236, 
256,  471. 

Youghal,  41,  67,  205,  427,  441,  471. 
Tompkyns,  Cousin  James,  128,  226,  298. 
Torys,  445. 

Trained  bands,  74-75, 89, 385-386, 455'456. 
Tralee,  246. 
Trant,  Garret,  458. 
Trapboys,  old,  95. 


2  L 


530    LIFE   OF   THE   GREAT   EARL   OF   CORK 


Travers,  Jack,  357,  393. 

Trevor,  Baron,  167. 

Trim,  261. 

Trinity  College,  Dublin,  190. 

Tunbridge  Wells,  156. 

Tutors  (see  Gary,  F.  de  Frey,  Marcombes). 

Tynt,  Lady  (see  Elizabeth  Boyle). 

Richard,  108. 

Sir  Robert,  69,   1 19,  147,  297,  400, 

489. 

William,  69,  299,  400,  489. 

Tyrell,  Henry,  406. 

Tyrone,   O'Neil,   Earl  of,   6,    13,   25-26, 

182. 


U 

ULSTER,  REBELLION  OF,  370,  377. 

settlement  of,  87-89,  90. 

Ussher,  Isabella,  69. 

Lord  Primate,  125,  188-190,  210-213, 

235.  277,  281,  367,  497. 
Mr.,  190. 


VALENTIA,  115. 

Valentines,  204  ;  'Vocal  wife,'  304. 

Vandyke,  222. 

Vaughan,  Henry  of  Mocas,  131. 

Roger  of  Mocas,  128. 

Vavasour,  Sir  Charles,  391-392,  407,  421, 
425,  435.  482. 

Vere  of  Tilbury,  Horatio,  Lord,  225. 

Verney  family,  234-235,  338. 

Sir  Edmund,  94,  132,  151,  171. 

— —  Lady,  164,  346. 

Memoirs,  xi. 

Sir  Ralph,  296. 

Vigors's,  Urban,  Narrative,  149,  399. 

Villiers  (see  Buckingham,  Duke  and  Coun- 
tess of). 

Mrs.  Anne,  141,  251-252. 

Sir  Edward,  President  of  Munster, 

94-96,  103,  140-141,  152,  252,  459. 

Lady,  96,  141,  165. 

Richard,  142. 

W 

WAGKRS,  50,  113,  373. 
Wale,  Ulick,  465. 


Waller,   Lady  Elizabeth,  daughter  of  Sir 

John  Dowdall,  170,  482. 
George,  of  Groombridge,  170  «. 

—  Sir  Hardress,  170,  432,  473,  482. 

—  Robert,  119. 

Wallop,  Sir  Henry,  9,  10,  14,  16. 
Wally  or  Whalley,  John,  54,  57,  68,  135, 
160,  349,  350.  375.  492,  494,  495,  497, 
500,  502. 

Walsh,  Patrick,  395-396. 
Wandisford,   Sir  George,    Master   of  the 

Rolls,  239,  278-279. 
War- 
Barbarities,  361,  407,  409. 
Mutinies,  399,  406,  422. 
Raids,  385,  435. 
Ruses,  399. 

Scouting,  20,  393,  405. 
Sickness    among    soldiers,    25,    421, 

434-435- 

Sow,  use  of,  410-411,  436. 
Temper  of  Bandon  men,  408,  410. 

of  English  reinforcements,  407. 

Traitors,  26,  406. 
Wards,  Court  of,  71. 

Master  of,  196,  242,  278,  280. 

Wardship,  50,  96,  147,  216,  298,  431. 

Warrington,  128. 

Warwick,  Charles,  Earl  of  (see  Rich). 

Mary,  Countess  of  (see  Boyle). 

Robert  Rich,  2nd  Earl  of,  347,  348, 

400,  401,  409. 

Waterford,  27,  in,  384,  390. 
Watson,  James,  484. 
Wear,  Sir  James,  499. 
Weddings,  138, 148, 170, 299,  340,  343, 349. 
Wentworth,  Sir  George,  244. 

Sir  Thomas  (see  Stratford). 

West  Carbery,  vii,  474. 

Weston,  Rev.  John,  D.D.,  Canon  of  Christ 

Church,  165,  175. 
Sir  Richard,  Dean  of  St.   Patrick's, 

50,  205. 

Wexford,  90,  423. 
Wheeler,  Mrs.,  384. 
Whetcombe,  John,  481. 
Whitchurch,  70. 
White,  Sir  Nicholas,  173,  240. 
Whitehall,  433. 
Whitney,  Captain,  123. 
Wilkins,  Rev.  Mr.,  207. 
Wilmot,  Sir  Charles,  35. 


INDEX 


Wilmot,  Lord,  178,  198,  362,  366. 

Wimbledon,  Lord,  in. 

Winchester,  Bishop  of,  65. 

5th  Marquis  of,  358-359. 

Windibank,  Secretary,  276. 

Windsor,  165. 

Wingfield,  Marshal,  26. 

Wiseman,  Alice  (see  Smyth). 

Katharine  (see  Spenser). 

S.,69. 

William,  69,  244,  468,  482. 

Witherhead,  Thomas,  Bishop  of  Water- 
ford  and  Lismore,  463,  466. 

Wood,  George,  75. 

Woodstock,  175. 

Wooton,  Sir  Henry,  275,  300,  308-309, 
313-315,  317,  320-323,  326. 


YORK,  357-358. 

James,  Duke  of,  331. 

Youghal,  Books  on — 

Council  Book,  Caulfield,  xi. 
Handbook,  Hayman,  xi. 
Youghal  College,  39,  40,  245,  270,  273, 
286-287,  367,  464,  466-467. 

House,   41,  47,    56,  68,    127, 

139,  140,  147,  160,  273-274,  382,  386. 


Youghal  town — 

Almshouses,  81,  491-492. 
Assizes,  72. 

Blackfriars  Priory,  465, 
Boyle  property  in,  467-468. 
Charles  I.  proclaimed,  98. 
Church,  41,  51,  372,  498. 
Danish  ship  shelters,  111-112. 
Defence  of,  382,  388,  392,  418,  424, 

434- 

Fishcuring  house,  76. 
Free  school,  40,  491. 
Fortifications,  382,  392. 
Funerals,  141,  427,  441. 
Mayors,  41,  99,  112,  135,  382,  498. 
Members  of  parliament,  85. 
Poor,  legacy  to,  502. 
Poorhouse,  112. 
Preachers,  79. 
Ralegh's  house,  39,  57,  121. 

property,  465-466. 

Refuge  for  English,  383-384,  457. 

South  Abbey,  384. 

Stapletown,  106. 

Strand,  8,  41. 

Trade,  99,  102,  401-402. 

Visits — John   Boyle,   64  ;    Falkland, 

139 ;  Ralegh,  122,  124. 
Walls,  41,  392. 


Printed  by  T.  and  A.  CONSTABLE,  Printers  to  His  Majesty 
at  the  Edinburgh  University  Press 


ERRATA 

Page    69,  line  io,for  Mary  Boyle  read  Elizabeth  Boyle. 
„       „      „    22,  for  Elizabeth  Boyle  read  Mary  Boyle. 
„     141,    „    20,  for  Lady  Barbara  Villiers  read  Mrs.  Anne  Villiers. 
„     216,    „      7,  for  Lady  Kildare  read  Mrs.  Fitzgerald. 


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